KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The LSU swimming and diving program concluded the 2026 SEC Championships on Saturday night at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn., with a gold medal from Jere Hribar in the 100-free.
Hribar, a junior from Split, Croatia, touched the wall with a meet record time of 40.42 in the 100-free to win the gold. On top of being the fastest in SEC Championships history, Hribar set the school record, taking down former Tiger Brooks Curry’s time from 2022. The performance brought his final medal count for the week to five – three individual and two relay.
The Tigers ended the meet with the women placing fifth, totaling 668.5 points, while the men finished seventh, totaling 614 points. The Texas Longhorns won the meet on the men’s and women’s side for the second consecutive year. For the LSU women, it’s the team’s best finish since taking fourth in 2023. LSU tallied seven medals on the week.
Six Tigers moved on to the finals from the prelims on Saturday. Hribar finished with the top overall time in the prelims of the 100-free (41.16). Michaela de Villiers and Chloe Cheng also made it to the A Finals – de Villiers in the 100-free and Cheng in the 200-IM. Zoe Carlos-Broc, Nicole Santuliana, and Stepan Goncharov each made it to a B or C Final in their respective events, as well.
Carlos-Broc started the night with a personal best time of 1:57.16 in the 200-IM. The time placed her ninth in the event and moved her into second in program history for the event. In the A Final, Cheng finished eighth, recording a time of 1:58.43.
In the 100-free, de Villiers clocked a personal-best time of 47.53 for fourth. The time slots the senior second in the event for program history. On the men’s side, Goncharov touched the wall with a time of 42.67 to place 20th. Then, Hribar took the gold in the A Final with a record-breaking performance.
Santuliana was the lone Tiger to make it to a final of the 200-back. The sophomore clocked a time of 1:55.23 in the C Final, placing 19th.
The meet wrapped up with the men’s and women’s 400-free relay, which featured the women’s squad of de Villiers, Avery Littlefield, Carlos-Broc, and Megan Barnes recording a season-best time of 3:11.77 to finish fourth. Their performance boosted the team into the fifth overall spot in the women’s overall team rankings. On the men’s side, Goncharov, Hribar, Simon Meubry, and Albert Bouley also took the fourth spot, putting together a school-record time of 2:47.52.
The Tigers return to action for the James E. Martin Invitational, where the Tigers will send several athletes for their last chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships in March. The meet will be held at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn, Ala., from Feb. 27-28.
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