GREENSBORO, N.C. – The future of the LSU women’s swimming and diving program is bright and it showed today as sophomore Kara Kopcso and freshman Madison Sthamann captured All-American honors in the 200 fly and on platform respectively to wrap up NCAA Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
Kopcso started the morning off with a bang, setting the school record with a time of 1:55.56. The Mandeville, Louisiana native returned for the final session and broke her own record once again with a time of 1:55.01. Kopcso earned her first NCAA Honorable Mention All-America honor and became only the second in school history after finishing 12th overall.
“Kara had a great performance today and it was a true show of character to rebound from yesterday,” LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “It’s been a long time since a Louisiana native scored points at NCAA’s for LSU, and it’s great for the local swim community to see that.”
Sthamann became the 12th Lady Tiger to be named an All American on platform. The freshman tallied a score of 261.80 in prelims to qualify for the consolation final. Sthamann finished seventh with a score of 279.
“I’m proud of Madison to come in on the final day and earn All-American honors on platform,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “She has a lot of room to mature and grow throughout the next three years. I’m excited with the all of the women we have returning next year.”
During prelims, Leah Troskot finished 39th (49.24) and Amber Carter finished 46th (49.46) in the 100 free. Carter’s time was also a career high.
The Lady Tigers finished 34th overall with 15 points for the best performance at NCAA’s since the 2010-11 season. Senior Amber Carter and junior Cassie Weil were each named NCAA Honorable Mention All Americans at the thee-day meet. Carter tied the school record in the 100 fly and Weil earned the fifth All-American honor of her career.
“I’m really honored to have Amber finish her collegiate career here at LSU with two best times and an All-American honor. Her commitment to this program has been tremendous,” Geyer said.
Senior Alex Bettridge finishes her career as an All American, an SEC Champions, an SEC record holder and holds two school records.
“I’m proud of what Alex has done in her four years at LSU,” Shaffer added. “She has accomplished a lot here but most importantly has represented our school well.”
The LSU women’s swimming and diving team ends the season with nine new school records. The women return nine swimmers and divers with NCAA Championship experience as well as three All Americans. Overall, the Lady Tigers return 21 of 26 athletes from this season.
“This group came in with lofty goals for this meet,” Geyer added. “I don’t think we hit the levels we wanted to but there was tremendous growth during the meet. It’s still a young core that we brought and we look forward to continued development at the national level.
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