Alabama takes out LSU

The Alabama Swimming and Diving teams posted convincing wins against Southeastern Conference rival LSU Friday afternoon, when the Crimson Tide’s men and women bettered the Tigers by 30-plus points each. Alabama’s women, hosting their first Caps for a Cure meet for breast cancer awareness, won 170-130, while the Tide men out-pointed the Tigers 166.5-133.5.
 
“Coming into the meet LSU was probably favored in the women’s meet and the men’s meet was something of a toss up,” Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. “And while there are still some areas we need to work on, for the most part we just go up there and raced which was nice to see.”
 
It marked the first time since the 2004-05 season that the Tide won both the men and women’s meet in the same year. Since the 2000 season, UA’s women are now 6-4-1 against the Tigers while the men are 7-4 over the same span. The Tide women are now 7-0 overall and 2-0 in SEC competition while the men are 4-0 and 1-0 in the SEC.
 
“The crowd did a great job today,” McIlquham said. “Both in supporting our ‘Caps for a Cure’ efforts and in keeping the energy level high on the deck. It was a great event overall, very exciting.”
 
On the women’s side of the meet Alabama won nine of the 16 events, including senior Agustina de Giovanni’s three-race sweep of the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and 200 IM. The Tide men also won nine events with seniors Mark Randall, Aaron Fleshner and Riley Boulden winning two events each.
 
After dropping the 200 medley relay to open the meet, freshman Jenna Gallo got the Tide women on track with a win in the 1000 freestyle, touching at 10:12.32. Gallo also won the 500 freestyle later in the meet with a time of 5:00.64. After losing the 200 freestyle, the meet’s third event, Alabama won the next three races, the 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 200 butterfly, to turn the meet in the Tide’s favor.
 
“Those three races, starting with Julie (Richards) winning the 100 back, really got things going for us,” McIlquham said. “The meet, on both sides, was decided not just on the races we won, but the second and third place finishes. It came down to the depth and getting our hand on the wall.”
 
Senior Julie Richards won the 100 backstroke with a 57.24. De Giovanni won the 100 breaststroke with a 1:01.66 while sophomore Suzanne Schwee touched first in the 200 butterfly with a 2:01.96. De Giovanni also won the 200 breaststroke with a 2:17.90 and the 200 IM at 2:01.24. Sophomore Carrie Dragland rounded out the Tide’s winning ways by taking first in both the one and three-meter diving events, scoring 308.85 and 334.43 respectively.
 
For the men, Randall won the 1000 freestyle with a 9:07.93 and the 500 freestyle at 4:28.15. Boulden touched first in the 100 and 200 breaststroke at 56.84 and 2:03.73 respectively.
 
“Going 1-2-3 in the 100 breaststroke was a strong statement at that point in the meet,” McIlquham said. “Riley’s win with a huge swim was one of the turning points for us.”
 
Fleshner swept both the one and three-meter board. Fleshner’s winning mark of 417.15 off the three-meter set a new Alabama Aquatic Center record, bettering his own record set in 2006. His score off the one-meter board, 372.60, was just six points off the AQC record.
 
Junior Catalin Cosma won the 200 freestyle with a 1:40.11 while classmate Denes Zubcsek touched first in the 200 butterfly with a 1:49.39. Sophomore Joe Ziegler took top honors in the 200 backstroke with a 1:47.89.
 
Alabama returns to action Thursday, Nov. 12 at Auburn.




The LSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned seven wins apiece and swept the relays against Alabama Friday, but it would not be enough as the Crimson Tide came away victorious in both dual meets at the Alabama Aquatic Center.

The Alabama men won nine of 16 events en route to a winning score of 166.5-133.5 over the Tigers (0-3, 0-3 SEC), while the Alabama women prevailed over the Lady Tigers (1-3, 0-3 SEC) with a 170-130 mark.

LSU will get back on the road and head east to Tallahassee, Fla., to take on the Seminoles Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST).

“I give a lot of credit to Alabama,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “They came out and competed well. I’m disappointed that we didn’t have some of the swims that we’ve already had this season, but hopefully, we can regroup and compete well against Florida State tomorrow.”

Junior Hannes Heyl, sophomore Mary Beck and freshmen Andrei Tuomola and Amanda Kendall led LSU with two wins apiece in individual racing. Sophomore diver Brian Gemberling also enjoyed a fine meet with career-high scores in the springboard events.

Heyl emerged victorious in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 49.83 seconds and swam to victory in the 100 butterfly in a season-best time of 49.48. Beck took first in both the 200 freestyle (1:50.23) and the 200 back (2:00.98), while Tuomola and Kendall each registered victories in their respective 50- and 100-free races.

Tuomola touched the wall in a career-best mark of 20.47 in the 50 free and swam to a time of 45.62 in the 100 free. Kendall claimed first-place with times of 23.40 and 51.07 in the 50 and 100 free, respectively.

Gemberling continued his impressive start to his season, tallying the seventh-best three-meter score in program history, 353.18, to take runner-up honors behind Alabama All-American Aaron Fleshner. The Tigers’ diver also recorded the seventh-best one-meter total in program annals, 333.30, to place third. Freshman diver Rebecca St. Germain posted third-place finishes in both events to lead the Lady Tigers.

In addition, juniors Jane Trepp and Clint Hallum delivered wins on the afternoon with season bests, and both the men’s and women’s 200 medley and 400 free relays claimed victories.

Trepp secured top honors in the 100 fly (55.26), and Hallum won the 200 individual medley (1:52.40).

The Lady Tigers’ 200 medley foursome of Morgan McGee, Kannon Betzen, Trepp and Samantha Goates opened the meet with a winning time of 1:43.07, while the LSU men’s group of James Meyers, Tuomola, Heyl and Sean LeNeave followed with a victorious mark of 1:29.70.

The women’s 400 free relay team of Trepp, Goates, Kendall and Betzen wrapped up the meet in first-place with a mark of 3:26.32, and the men’s squad of Tuomola, LeNeave, Reijo Hyvenen and Heyl registered the top time of 3:02.99.