ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 11/13 LSU swimming and diving team broke two school records and concluded the first day of the Georgia Invitational with the men in second place and the women in third Monday night at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Both the men’s and women’s 200-medley relay squads set a school record. Zoe Carlos-Broc, Martina Bukvic, Avery Littlefield, and Michaela de Villiers got it done for the women, while Stepan Goncharov, Volodymyr Lisovets, Caleb Ellis, and Jere Hribar broke the men’s record.
The LSU women’s team finished the day with a third-place score of 119, behind Florida and Georgia, and in front of Florida State, Alabama, and Georgia Tech. The men sit in second place with a score of 144, trailing only Florida.
The meet began with the 1650-free, where Nicole Santuliana placed fifth with a time of 16:21.17 – a time that meets the NCAA Division I qualifying standard. Saskia Blasius recorded a time of 16:55.91, good for 12th place.
On the men’s side, the Tigers took the fifth, sixth, seventh, and 10th spots. Jovan Lekic finished fifth with a time of 14:56.06. He was followed by Nikola Simic (14:56.19) and Jacob Pishko (14:58.43), who placed sixth and seventh, respectively. All three of their times met the NCAA Division I qualifying standard. Silas Beth clocked in at 15:08.60 to finish in 10th.
In the 200-medley relay, the women’s A-team of Carlos-Broc, Bukvic, Littlefield, and de Villiers placed second with a time of 1:35.06. This time took down the school record (1:35.99), which was set earlier this year in the tri meet against Alabama and Florida State. The men’s A-team of Goncharov, Lisovets, Ellis, and Hribar followed up, breaking the school record, as well. The squad came in third with a time of 1:22.42, breaking the record that had been set earlier this spring.
The third and final event of the day was the 800-free relay. The women’s A-team of Giulia Zambelli, Megan Barnes, Grace Palmer, and Santuliana finished third with a time of 7:03.97. The men’s A-team of Lekic, Hribar, Simon Meubry, and Karlo Percinic clocked a time of 6:17.88, finishing fourth. Both the men’s and women’s times sit fifth in the NCAA this season.
The Wednesday session will feature prelims for the 100-fly, 400-IM, 200-free, 100-breast, 1m diving (W), and 3m diving (M) at 8:30 a.m. CT. The finals of these events, along with the 200-free relay, will occur at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Live stats can be followed on the MeetMobile app, and the meet will be streamed on SECN+.
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