GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The LSU women’s swimming team couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2011 Southeastern Conference Swimming Championships Wednesday in Gainesville, Fla., as the Lady Tigers’ 200-yard medley relay delivered a silver-medal finish and NCAA automatic qualifying time.
The women’s foursome of Jana Ruimerman, Jane Trepp, Amanda Kendall and Samantha Goates earned a spot on the medal podium and punched their ticket to the 2011 NCAA Championships with an ‘A’ cut of 1 minute, 36.91 seconds.
After Ruimerman led off the relay in the backstroke with a 25.48 clocking, Trepp and Kendall each recorded the fastest breaststroke and butterfly splits in the championship heat with marks of 26.57 and 22.87, respectively. Goates anchored the freestyle leg in an impressive split of 21.99.
“It was an unbelievable first day,” co-head coach David Geyer said. “For our women to take second and get an NCAA ‘A’ cut was outstanding and well beyond my expectations.
“The men had some solid relay performances. We just have to be sharper, but we are going to get stronger as this meet goes on, and we’ll have plenty of opportunities to make it back to finals and try to get more swimmers to NCAA’s.”
Kendall continued her sensational start to the post-season, leading off the 800 free relay with a school-record 200-yard split of 1:44.95. The group of Kendall, Kannon Betzen, Cari Blalock and Sara Haley collectively broke the program mark with a ‘B’ cut time of 7:12.73 to take fifth.
The men’s 200 medley tandem of James Meyers, Andrei Tuomola, Hannes Heyl and Eric Zeller registered fourth-place with a season best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:26.59. Heyl led the charge with a 20.46 butterfly split, fastest of the field.
Moreover, the Tigers’ 800 free relay of Clint Hallum, Craig Hamilton, Timmy Dasinger and Brock Davis finished eighth with a ‘B’ cut mark of 6:34.94.
Following the first day of action, the Tiger men sit in fourth-place with 99.5 points, while the Lady Tigers are currently sixth with 93.5 points.
In individual time trials, Blalock swam to a career best and ‘B’ cut mark of 53.77 in the 100 butterfly, fifth in program history. Zeller also raced the clock, registering a season best of 20.49 in the 50 freestyle.
Day 2 of the 2011 SEC Swimming Championships begin at 9 a.m. (CST) Thursday with the prelims. The finals start at 5 p.m.
2011 SEC Swimming Championships
Feb. 16-19
Gainesville, Fla.
Men’s Team Standings*
1. Auburn – 201
2. Tennessee – 199.5
3. Florida – 129
4. LSU – 99.5
5. Alabama – 93
6. Kentucky – 92
7. Georgia – 73
8. South Carolina – 50
Women’s Team Standings*
1. Auburn – 166
2. Florida – 153
3. South Carolina – 108
4. Georgia – 106
5. Tennessee – 96
6. LSU – 93.5
7. Kentucky – 83
8. Arkansas – 76
9. Alabama – 73.5
10. Vanderbilt – 32
* – Diving scores from last week included
Schedule of Events – Thursday, Feb. 17
9 a.m. – Prelims (500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free)
5 p.m. – Finals (500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 200 Freestyle Relay)