BATON ROUGE, La. — The nationally-ranked LSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs have added six swimmers to the 2011 signing class, co-head coach David Geyer announced.
Women’s swimmers Amber Carter (Houston) and Katlin Sepp (Tallinn, Estonia) and men’s swimmers Raymond DePadua (Orange Park, Fla.), Frank Greeff (Uitenhage, East Cape, South Africa), Tyler Jusselin (Shreveport, La.) and Dillon Love (Charlotte, N.C.) will join the teams next fall.
Sepp will immediately impact the Lady Tigers’ backstroke corps. The Estonian national record-holder in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke in the short-course format, Sepp boasts top short-course times of 1 minute, 1.13 seconds and 2 minutes, 11.73 seconds in the 100m and 200m back, respectively, and long-course marks of 1:03.87 and 2:16.95.
Carter offers potential in the butterfly and freestyle events. A first-team Texas all-state member and district champion, Carter holds a personal best of 55.91 seconds in the 100 fly. She also excels in long course competition, and her lifetime best 100m fly of 1:02.22 is a senior national cut.
Sepp and Carter join dynamic sprinter Marlene Niemi, a member of the CollegeSwimming.com Top 25, and Alex Bettridge, a two-time high school All-America diver from Austin, Texas, in the Lady Tigers’ signing class. Niemi and Bettridge signed with LSU in the fall.
Greeff is one of the top men’s prep prospects from South Africa, a nation that has consistently produced elite swimmers at both the NCAA and international levels. He holds the fastest times in the nation among his age group in the 50 and 100 free and 200 fly in the short-course meters format.
A versatile swimmer who can potentially help out in butterfly, freestyle and individual medley events, Greeff possesses a long-course mark of 2:03.28 in the 200 fly and a short-course time of 2:00.75.
Love and Jusselin are talented prospects that will bring upside to the backstroke races in addition to their other disciplines.
An All-American and two-time All-Conference member from Charlotte, Love holds personal bests of 49.78, 1:48.58 and 1:39.52 in the 100 back, 200 back and 200 free, respectively. Jusselin, a Junior National qualifier and team record-holder from Shreveport, has top times of 51.37 in the 100 back and 1:49.84 in the 200 back.
DePadua, a butterfly and backstroke specialist, transfers to LSU from Daytona State College after proving to be one of the top junior college swimmers in the country. In 2011, DePadua won the NJCAA national championship in the 200 fly (1:51.42) and brings in lifetime bests of 50.61 in the 100 back and 50.17 in the 100 fly.
Greeff, Love, Jusselin and DePadua join gifted Australian backstroker Michael Young and distance freestyle specialists Matthew Schaefer and Samuel Jardine in the men’s signing class. Young, Schaefer and Jardine signed in the fall.
2011 LSU Swimming & Diving Signing Class
LSU Women
Alex Bettridge – Austin, Texas (Diving)
Amber Carter – Houston, Texas (Fly/Free)
Marlene Niemi – Vantaa, Finland (Sprint Free)
Katlin Sepp – Tallinn, Estonia (Back/Free)
LSU Men
Raymond DePadua – Orange Park, Fla. (Back/Fly)
Frank Greeff – Uitenhage, East Cape, South Africa (Fly/Free/IM)
Samuel Jardine – Claremont, Calif. (Distance Free)
Tyler Jusselin – Shreveport, La. (Back/IM)
Dillon Love – Charlotte, N.C. (Back/Free)
Matthew Schaefer – Glenshaw, Pa. (Distance Free)
Michael Young – Sydney, Australia (Back)