BATON ROUGE – The LSU Swimming & Diving team will push forward in their championship season as they hit the road for the 2021 Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. The four day event will begin on Wednesday, March 17 and run through Saturday, March 20 from Greensboro, North Carolina.
There will be no spectator seating available inside the competition facilities for the duration of the events. All sessions of the championships will air live on the ESPN app.
IN THE POOL
Four Tiger swimmers will be competing in the pool this week, as they used spectacular performances this season to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Hannah Bellina used a spectacular freshman campaign to qualify for the Championships in the 200-Yard Butterfly. She swam a personal best time and the third best time in school history, 1:57.18, four weeks ago at the SEC Championships to propel her to a championship opportunity. Throughout this season, Bellina has finished in the top three of her event seven times with one of those finishes being a first place finish.
Emilie Boll qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100-Yard Breaststroke. At the 2020 SEC Championships, Boll finished in 10th place in the ‘B’ Final of the 100-Yard Breaststroke. She became the fifth Tiger swimmer to swim the 100-Yard Breaststroke in under a minute to earn her an NCAA berth. Boll has been a steady force for the Tigers during her first year with the program. Throughout the season, she has compiled seven top-three finishes and four wins in the 100-Yard Breaststroke.
Katarina Milutinovich qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200-Yard Freestyle. She also earned a ‘B’ Cut in the 50 and the 100-Yard Freestyle. At the SEC Championships, Milutinovich finished in 16th place in the ‘B’ Final of the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:47.05. She swam a season’s best time in the 200-Yard Freestyle while swimming the first leg of the 800-Yard Freestyle at the SEC Championships. She swam the leg in 1:45.92. Milutinovich has been a steady contributor for the Tigers this season after an amazing freshman campaign just a year ago. She has finished in the top-three a stunning 11 times this season, while grabbing three victories in the process.
Summer Stanfield qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200-Yard Backstroke and earned ‘B’ Cuts in the 200-Yard IM and the 200-Yard Butterfly. At the SEC Championships, she swam a personal best time and the third fastest time in school history in the 200-Yard Backstroke, 1:55.05, to earn her an NCAA invite. Stanfield is another swimmer who has carried momentum over to this season after a successful freshman season. She has claimed five total victories this season, going along with a total of 12 top-three finishes.
“I am really looking forward to this week in Greensboro,” said LSU head swim coach Dave Geyer. “It was not until after the divers competed on platform this past Saturday that I realized we have seven freshmen and sophomores going to NCAA’s. With last year being canceled, obviously none of them have the experience at this meet you would like to have. However, with what we lack in experience we are making up with energy and excitement.”
ON THE BOARDS
Three Tiger divers will also be making the trip to Greensboro to compete in the NCAA Championships. Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant, Anne Tuxen, and Helle Tuxen all used spectacular performances last week at the Zone D Diving Championships to earn this opportunity.
Gutierrez Lavenant qualified for all three events during last week’s Zone Championships. She started the week by finishing in seventh place on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 541.40. She followed that performance up by finishing in 10th place on three-meter with a score of 629.65 and seventh place on platform with a score of 534.10.
Anne Tuxen qualified for the NCAA Championships on both three-meter as well as platform. At the Zone Championships this past week, she finished in eighth place on three-meter with a score of 639.00 and 10th place on platform with a score of 521.00. Tuxen, a sophomore, will be diving at the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career. She qualified a year ago, but the season was canceled before the championships began.
Helle Tuxen notched her first career NCAA berth last week as she qualified for the NCAA Championships on platform. In the event, she finished in eighth place with a total score of 525.25.
“Today I am reminded that one year ago the NCAA Championships were canceled,” said LSU head diving coach Doug Shaffer. “Today we are grateful to have the opportunity to compete at the NCAA Championships. The patience and resolve of our student-athletes throughout this season has been tremendous. We are excited to head to Greensboro and compete to the best of our abilities.”
ORDER OF EVENTS FOR THE TIGERS
Thursday, March 18
200-Yard IM
50-Yard Freestyle
One-Meter Diving
Friday, March 19
200-Yard Freestyle
100-Yard Breaststroke
Three-Meter Diving
Saturday, March 20
200-Yard Backstroke
100-Yard Freestyle
200-Yard Butterfly
Platform Diving
LIVE COVERAGE
LIVE VIDEO
Thursday Prelims: https://lsul.su/2HlQbw9
Thursday Finals: https://lsul.su/2HlQbw9
Friday Prelims: https://lsul.su/2HlQbw9
Friday Finals: https://lsul.su/2HlQbw9
Saturday Prelims: https://lsul.su/2HlQbw9
Saturday Finals: https://lsul.su/2HlQbw9
MORE INFORMATION
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