BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU women’s swimming and diving squad took the top spot in every swimming event en route to picking up another three dual victories Saturday afternoon in the LSU Natatorium.
The Tigers defeated Tulane, 225-74, Rice, 204-95, and Houston, 198-101. Senior Sofia Sartori set a pool record in the 200-back to help dominate the field.
To kick things off in the pool, the 200-medley relay squad of Zoe Carlos-Broc, Martina Bukvic, Avery Littlefield, and Michaela de Villiers cruised to a victory, ousting the competition by four seconds. The group came in at a time of 1:36.22. The B-group of Sartori, Chloe Cheng, Malou Doiullard, and Megan Barnes followed behind for a second-place finish with a time of 1:40.10.
LSU took both of the top two spots in the 1000-free. Nicole Santuliana came in at 9:47.55, while Grace Palmer followed with a time of 9:51.43, her fastest time of the season.
Barnes won the 200-free, posting a time of 1:47.05. The win was the second of the senior’s individual victories on the day. Barnes went on to touch the wall first in the 500-free with a time of 4:47.55.
In the 100-back, Carlos-Broc dominated the competition, posting a time of 52.88. Following that race, Sabrina Lyn took the top spot in the 100-breast, clocking in at 1:00.23.
Giulia Zambelli touched the wall first in the 200-fly. The sophomore came in with a season-best 1:53.76.
The Tigers then took the first two spots in the 50-free. De Villiers recorded a time of 22.40, while Littlefield followed right after at 22.42.
Following the 50-free, the squads took their first break of the day. The Tigers led Tulane, 96-35, Rice, 93-38, and Houston, 89-42 at the break.
In the 100-free, Littlefield and de Villiers swapped positions, with the sophomore touching first with a time of 48.67, edging out the senior, who posted a time of 49.44. Littlefield’s time was a personal best in the event.
Next up, Sartori won the 200-back with a pool record time of 1:53.20. The time narrowly beat out the former record held by Emily Jones of Alabama, who set the record Friday. Sartori’s time currently ranks in the top 15 nationally. The senior took her second individual win later in the 100-fly with a time of 52.11.
The Tigers placed first and second again, this time in the 200-breast. Bukvic clocked a time of 2:10.64 to win, while Grace Palmer followed, posting a time of 2:11.79.
In the 200-IM, Santuliana notched first place with a time of 2:00.92, while Bukvic came in second this time, posting a 2:01.79.
For the final swimming event of the weekend, the LSU 400-free relay squads placed first and second. The A-group of de Villiers, Carlos-Broc, Barnes, and Lyn clocked a 3:19.47. The B-group of Douillard, Anastasia Bako, Zambelli, and Kara Jones came in at 3:22.59 for second place.
In the diving well, freshman Eve Nelson placed fourth in the 1-meter with a score of 247.45. Freshman Morgan Lalonde came in seventh, totalling a score of 227.10. The score was a season-best for both in the event. Nelson went on to place fifth in the 3-meter with a score of 255.95.
The Tigers will be back in competition Nov. 17-21 for the Geogria Invitational at Gabrielsen Natatorium. The Tigers will compete against host school Georgia, as well as Alabama, Florida, Florida State, and Georgia Tech.