Alabama
LSU
Swimming and Diving Sweeps LSU
11/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 6, 2009
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - 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.
Players Mentioned
