Courtesy: LSU Athletics
BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU swimming and diving team is set to start the season against Navy and Uconn at 3 p.m. CT on Friday at Lejune Hall in Annapolis, Md. The meet will continue on Saturday at 10 a.m. CT.
“This is a stepping stone for us,” explained diving head coach Doug Shaffer. “For those that have been to NCAA’s, this is a stepping stone in the process. For our freshmen, going into their first competition, it will be a learning experience. It’s something that will provide them valuable experience down the road.”
The diving team returns three participants from last year’s NCAA Championships. Juan Celaya-Hernandez and Matthew Phillip represented the men, while Lizzie Cui represented the women.
Celaya-Hernandez earned All-America Honors on all three boards. The junior earned First-Team honors on both springboards with a fourth-place finish on three-meter and a seventh-place finish on one-meter, while also earning Honorable Mention honors after diving to 15th overall on platform. Matthew Phillip claimed 33rd overall on platform.
Cui earned NCAA Honorable Mention honors on both springboards after finishing 12th on one-meter and 14th on three-meter.
Cui will also be looking to add to her impressive dual meet record. Last season, the senior won all 10 events she competed in at dual meets.
The swimmers will be looking to build off of their performances at last week’s intrasquad meet.
At the annual Purple & Gold meet, Luca Pfyffer and Lewis Clough won multiple events on the men’s side. Pfyffer won both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, while Clough took home gold in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly.
At last season’s SEC Championships, Pfyffer reached the “C” Final of the 200-yard breaststroke and finished 18th overall as a freshman.
Clough earned two second-swims at last season’s SEC Championships, finishing 16th in the 200-yard freestyle and tied for 19th in the 100-yard freestyle. His time of 1:36.11 in the 200-yard freestyle is the third-fastest in school history.
Summer Spradley also had a strong showing for the women at last season’s SEC Championships. Spradley cracked the top-15 in the 100-yard breast stroke and finished 24th in the 200-yard breaststroke with the third-fastest time in school history.
“There’s a lot of racing early on this season,” said swimming head coach Dave Geyer. “It gives us an opportunity to see where everyone is, competition-wise, after a solid month of training and as we work in a heavier training load. It also gives everyone an opportunity to go through the travel routine and plan accordingly.”
“We’d love to walk out of there with two wins on both sides. UConn and Navy have talent and depth. They match up really well with us, it’s about letting those competitive juices flow and getting your hand on the wall first.”
For more information and updates on LSU Swimming and Diving please visit LSUsports.net, ‘like’ us on Facebook at LSU Swimming and Diving or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @LSUswimdive.
Order of events
Friday, 3 p.m.
-Diving-
400 Medley
500 Free
50 Free
15 Min Break
200 IM
200 Fly
100 Free
200 Back
200 Breast
10 Min Break
200 Free Relay
Saturday, 10 a.m.
-Diving-
200 Medley
1000 Free
100 Back
100 Breast
15 Min Break
200 Free
100 Fly
100 IM
10 Min Break
400 Free Relay