BATON ROUGE, La. - The LSU women’s swimming and diving team took down Auburn for the first time since the 1990-91 season by a score of 179.5-120.5 on Thursday afternoon in the LSU Natatorium.
The LSU women, who won 12 of the 14 swimming events, were aided by 5th-year Senior Michaela de Villiers’ record-breaking season debut. The Cape Town, South Africa native set a pool record in the 100 free with a time of 48.11 and was part of the 400 free relay squad, which also set a pool record, finishing in 3:13.64.
The LSU men raced very well against No. 14 Auburn, defeating them in nine of the 14 swimming events, but fell overall by a score of 163-135. Senior Jere Hribar set a school record in the 100 fly, clocking a time of 44.84, and set the pool record in the 100 free, coming in at 41.15. Junior Volodymyr Lisovets also set pool records in the 100 breast (51.52) and the 200 breast (1:54.25).
Zoe Carlos-Broc, Martina Bukvic, Avery Littlefield, and de Villiers kicked off the meet by winning the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:34.96. On the men’s side, Zach Dale, Lisovets, Caleb Ellis, and Hribar recorded a first-place time of 1:23.66. Hribar recorded a blazing-fast 17.97 split.
For the second consecutive meet, Nicole Santuliana (9:55.66) and Nikola Simic (9:11.98) won the 1000 free. Simic went on to win the 500 free with a time of 4:16.20.
In the 200 free, Sophie Benn touched the wall first, posting a time of 1:45.78. The freshman later won the 500 free with a time of 4:48.21.
Dale, a freshman from Stoke-on-Trent, England, recorded a strong meet, winning the 100 back (46.63) and taking second in the 200 back (1:44.08)
Bukvic and Lisovets dominated the breaststroke events. Bukvic went 59.23 to win the 100 breast, and Lisovets won on the men’s side with a time of 51.52. In the 200 breast, Bukvic touched the wall first with a time of 2:08.83, while Lisovets took the top spot, recording a time of 1:54.25. Both of Lisovets’ times were pool records.
The LSU men’s and women’s pairing weren’t done there. De Villiers and Hribar each took wins in the 50 free and 100 free. De Villiers clocked a pool-record time of 21.85 in the 50 free, and Hribar came in at 18.80. The duo followed up in the 100 free with de Villiers going 48.11 and Hribar recording his pool-record time of 41.15.
Parker Del Balso took the top spot in the 200 back, touching the wall with a time of 1:55.78.
In the 100 fly, Littlefield recorded a first-place time of 52.09, her best in the event so far this season. On the men’s side, Hribar set a school record, clocking a time of 44.84. It took down his own record by half a second.
The 200 IM saw Carlos-Broc take the top spot for the women with a time of 1:58.65. Collin Quickstad took second for the men, notching a season-best time of 1:48.24
The LSU women’s 400 free relay squad of de Villiers, Littlefield, Nina Stanisavljevic, and Bukvic touched the wall first with a pool-record time of 3:13.64. Andreas da Silva, Simon Meubry, Diggory Dillingham, and Matais Santiso took second on the men’s side with a time of 2:52.31.
In the diving well, Eve Nelson took second in the 3m (308.78) for the women, and Travis Keith placed third in the 1m (353.70) for the men.
The Tigers will be back in action for the Georgia Invitational on Nov. 19-22. The Tigers will compete at the midseason meet against Alabama, Cal, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, and Georgia Tech.
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.