BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The LSU women’s swimming and diving team added two more gold medals to their collection Friday after Jenna Bridges and Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant both won an event on day four of the SEC Championships inside Texas A&M’s Rec Center Natatorium.
Bridges, a participant in the 200-yard butterfly championship final, overtook four swimmers during the final 50 yards to take home the third individual gold medal of the meet for the women. She finished with a school record time of 1:54.18. The previous time was held by Kara Kopcso since 2016.
Gutierrez Lavenant, who left last season’s SEC meet with three championship final appearances, finally earned her medal. The best part about it: she won gold and for the first time in her LSU career, she can call herself an SEC champion. In what was an exhilarating platform final, it came down to the fifth and final dive, where Gutierrez Lavenant clinched it. She finished first with a score of 293.50.
Her gold medal is the first for an LSU woman diver since 2015.
Maggie Buckley also finished in the top three on platform, claiming bronze with a final score of 268.45.
With LSU’s performance on the women’s side, it holds fourth place going into the final day of competition with 624 points. Tomorrow, LSU will compete in the 200-back, 100-free, 200-breast, men’s platform dive, and the 400-free relay.
The LSU women have earned every medal up to this point and the total number sits at eight. The Tigers hold five golds and three bronzes. With the five gold medals, it marks the first time the LSU women have won that many in a single SEC meet since 1993. Lucy Findlay earned three, and Susie Ryan earned two 30 seasons ago.
This season, the gold medal count stretches across six different athletes including Bridges, Gutierrez Lavenant and Maggie MacNeil individually. Additionally, Katarina Milutinovich, Peyton Curry and Michaela de Villiers were a part of the 200-yard free relay win.
For the 200-yard fly final Friday night, Sofia Sartori competed in the B final and finished in 15th with a time of 1:57.71. Hannah Womer swam in the C final and claimed 22nd with a time of 1:59.27. In the 100-yard back, Ella Varga finished in 12th place with a time of 52.50.
Mitch Mason swam in the 100-yard breast B final and broke his school record time of 52.32. He finished in 12th place overall with a time of 52.22.
The 2023 SEC Championships are available to stream on the ESPN app with each prelim and final session being housed on SECN+. Live stats for the meet’s entirety can be found on MeetMobile. Live results on the diving side can be accessed at divemeets.com, which updates after each individual dive.
ORDER OF EVENTS (All Times Central)
Saturday, February 18
9:30 a.m.: Swimming Prelims
12:30 p.m.: Diving Prelims
5:30 p.m.: S&D Finals