BATON ROUGE — Sophomore Mattias Ohlin shattered an LSU Natatorium record Saturday afternoon, as the LSU swimming and diving teams soundly defeated Rice in the Tigers’ final home dual meet of the season. The 19th-ranked LSU men won 169-82, while the Lady Tigers triumphed 153-112.
“This was an outstanding way to end our dual meet schedule,” LSU head coach Rick Meador said. “We had some fantastic swims today, setting ourselves up well for the SEC Championships in 11 days. We should be taking an excellent team to SECs.”
Ohlin swam a personal-best time of 48.15 in the 100 butterfly, breaking an LSU Natatorium record that had stood for 13 years. The 48.15 is also the fastest time in the SEC this season.
“That was just an incredible race for Mattias,” Meador said. “He’s been swimming faster and faster each week, so he should be peaking at the right time of the year. It’s just a great accomplishment.”
Ohlin also captured the men’s 200 freestyle, with a time of 1:39.71. Joining Ohlin as a double winner on the men’s side was freshman Steve Gluck, who took first-place honors in both the 100 breaststroke (56.80) and the 200 breaststroke (2:06.50).
Other winners for the men (9-3) were: junior Neal Satterly (100 backstroke), sophomore Eddie Aguilar (200 butterfly), senior Brian Baum (50 freestyle), freshman Nick Antonetti (platform diving), freshman Rodrigo Castro (500 freestyle) and sophomore Ken Kuhn. Kuhn swam the 100 freestyle in 44.83 seconds, the sixth-fastest time in the SEC this season.
In women’s action, freshmen Ali Petersen and Mandy Leach each won two events, leading the Lady Tigers (11-2) to the victory over Rice. Petersen swam a personal-best time of 2:01.46 to win the 200 backstroke, the 10th-fastest time in the SEC this season. She also won the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.77. Leach won the 200 freestyle (1:52.14) and the 100 freestyle (52.10).
Other winners for the Lady Tigers were: senior Katie Burke (100 breaststroke), senior Marguerite Atchley (50 freestyle), freshman Holly Winters (platform diving), freshman Cissy Schepens (200 breaststroke), freshman Candice Nethercott (100 butterfly) and sophomore Ashley Culpepper (1-meter diving).
LSU is off until the SEC Championships, set for February 17-20 at Lexington, Kentucky.