BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU swimming and diving team returns to action with the first full squad home meet of the season against SMU at noon Saturday at the LSU Natatorium.
“It is exciting to be back home and get our team in our pool for competition,” LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how our men respond this week after falling short of the goal last weekend. It should be an exciting meet because both programs are very strong.”
The SMU women’s team was ranked 21st in the first CSCAA poll last week. The Mustangs are coming off of a pair of wins over Houston and Rice. SMU also holds nine of 14 of the top times in the American Athletic Conference.
The Lady Tigers improved to 5-0 on the year with victories against Northern Arizona and Wyoming last weekend. The women broke 10 pool records in the final meet ever at NAU’s Wall Aquatic Center.
Junior Kara Kopcso was named the SEC Female Swimmer of the Week after an incredible record breaking performance in Flagstaff, Arizona. She was the first LSU swimmer to earn the weekly honor since Amanda Kendall did it in 2012.
Kopcso dominated the meet with four individual wins, a second place finish and two relay wins. The Mandeville, Louisiana native contributed a total of 52 points and broke five pool records for the Lady Tigers.
In addition to Kopcso’s performance, senior Megan Cox returned home to Arizona and won three individual events and broke three individual pool records. Senior Sophie Weber set the pool record in the 200 backstroke and freshman Lauren Thompson added a record in the 400 IM.
Diver Cassie Weil won the women’s three-meter springboard with a pool record score of 339.65. Allie Alter also finished second on one-meter with a score of 275.40.
“I am looking forward to returning back to our home pool and competing against a very good SMU team,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “We have a lot of respect for their program. I think our team will be ready and looking to improve going into the rest of the season.”
The LSU men’s team is looking to come back after disappointing losses to Wyoming. The Tigers face an SMU squad that lost a close meet to TCU last week at home.
Junior Andrew Suchla had an incredible performance last week against Wyoming with victories on the one meter and three meter springboards. Suchla used pool record scores of 333.35 on three meter and 312.05 on one meter to earn the sweep.
Logan Rysemus, the men’s team captain, provided wins in the 50-meter backstroke, 50-meter butterfly and 100-meter butterfly. Rysemus finished second in the 100-meter IM. The junior’s time of 54.97 in the 100 fly was also a pool record.
Freshman Thomas Smith provided a spark for the men’s team in his first collegiate meet. Smith took first in the 200-meter backstroke with a pool record time of 2:01.32. The Huntington Beach, California native also finished second in the 50-meter backstroke and the 200-meter IM.
A full recap will be available on lsusports.net following the meet. For more information and updates on LSU Swimming and Diving please visit LSUsports.net, ‘like’ us on Facebook at LSU Swimming and Diving or follow us on Twitter @LSUswimdive.