ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 11/13 LSU swimming and diving team concluded day number three of the Georgia Invitational with the women still in third (465), trailing Florida and Georgia, and the men remaining in fourth (372.5), behind Florida, Georgia, and Florida State on Thursday night in Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Between the men and the women, the Tigers took a top-3 spot seven times on the night to help hold their position in the meet team rankings.
The Tigers had a total of 29 swimmers and two divers advance from the morning prelim session to the afternoon finals.
Zoe Carlos-Broc, Sofia Sartori, Michaela de Villiers, and Stepan Goncharov made the A Final of the 100-back. Martina Bukvic and Grace Palmer made the A Final of the 200-breast. Nicole Santuliana and Jacob Pishko made the A Final in the 500-free. De Villiers, Avery Littlefield, Jere Hribar, and Goncharov made the final of the 50-free.
Chloe Cheng, Collin Quickstad, Megan Barnes, Saskia Blasius, Giulia Zambelli, Jovan Lekic, Nikola Simic, Karlo Percinic, Silas Beth, Anastasia Bako, Sabrina Lyn, Malou Douillard, Diggory Dillingham, Simon Meubry, and Albert Bouley all clinched either the B or C Final in their respective events.
For prelims in the diving well, Eve Nelson posted a fourth-place score of 288.55 in the prelims of the 3-meter to send her to the finals. Carson Paul won the prelims of the 1-meter, tallying a score of 349.75 to send him through.
The first finals event of the night, the 100-back, saw Carlos-Broc claim third place with a time of 51.90. Sartori and de Villiers followed right behind in fifth (52.42) and sixth (52.55). On the men’s side, Goncharov took fifth, clocking a time of 45.25 – a season best for the junior.
Bukvic notched fourth in the 200-breast with a personal best 2:08.81 – third in program history. Palmer took eighth with a time of 2:14.16, and Cheng finished 23rd, coming in at 2:18.89. Lisovets came in 12th for the men with a time of 1:56.02. Quickstad placed 20th with a time of 2:00.35.
In the 500-free, Santuliana took eighth, posting a time of 4:46.61. Barnes won the B Final – for ninth place – with a time of 4:41.50. The time was the senior’s fastest by almost two seconds this season. Palmer followed right behind in 10th, clocking a 4:46.17. On the men’s side, Pishko placed eighth overall with a time of 4:21.79. Simic (4:18.69) and Lekic (4:18.90) finished in 11th and 12th, respectively. Beth recorded a time of 4:23.01 for 20th, and Percinic posted a time of 4:28.96 for 24th.
De Villiers touched the wall second in the 50-free with a time of 21.99. Littlefield finished right behind her in third with a time of 22.05 – a time moving into the top-5 all-time at LSU. Lyn won the B-Final for ninth, posting a time of 22.48. Bako came in 10th with a time of 22.60 – a personal best – and Douillard came in 16th (23.07).
Hribar also took second in the 50-free, just missing his personal best by one tenth of a second. His time, 18.75, sits third in the NCAA this season. Goncharov took the fourth spot with a time of 19.36. Meubry placed 10th, clocking a 19.49, and Dillingham followed with a time of 19.79 in 13th. Bouley came in at 19.75 for 20th.
The 400-medley relay capped the night with the women’s A-team and men’s A-team both touching the wall third. Carlos-Broc, Bukvic, Sartori, and de Villiers recorded a time of 3:31.88. The men’s A-squad of Goncharov, Lisovets, Stuart Higdon, and Hribar came in at 3:05.37.
Paul took the number one spot in the men’s 1-meter diving, scoring 362.45. Nelson placed eighth in the women’s 3-meter with a score of 259.55.
The Friday session will feature prelims at 8:30 a.m. CT for the 200-IM, 100-free, 200-fly, 200-back, and platform diving. The afternoon finals will consist of the same events along with the 400-free relay, beginning at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Live stats can be followed on the MeetMobile app, and the meet will be streamed on SECN+.
For the latest news on LSU swimming and diving, fans can follow the team’s social media outlets at lsuswimdive on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Fans can also donate to the Excellence Fund here.