The LSU women’s swimming team will compete at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia, from March 18 to 21.
The event is significant as it brings together top Division I athletes from across the country. The No. 14 ranked LSU squad is sending nine athletes, with eight competing individually.
All three captains of the LSU women’s team have qualified for the meet. Megan Barnes, a senior from London, United Kingdom, holds the 23rd best time nationally in the 500-free and ranks 26th in the 200-free. Michaela de Villiers of Cape Town, South Africa, will swim in both the 50-free and 100-free events, where she is ranked 17th and 27th respectively. Sofia Sartori from San Bonifacio, Verona, Italy has qualified for three events: she is ranked 13th in the nation for the 200-fly, as well as qualifying for the 100-fly and 200-back.
Five other Tigers have also qualified individually: freshman Martina Bukvic (100-breast), sophomore Zoe Carlos-Broc (100-back and 200-IM), Avery Littlefield (100-fly), Grace Palmer (200-breast), and Giulia Zambelli (200-fly). Nicole Santuliana will participate in the relay events.
All five of LSU’s relay teams are set to compete at nationals; each ranks within the top twenty-five nationally. The team’s highest-ranked relay is tenth in the NCAA for the 200-medley relay. The Tigers’ performance last season included a program finish of twenty-second place at nationals and a silver medal on platform diving by Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant.
The competition schedule includes preliminary rounds each morning at nine o’clock Central Time and finals each evening at five o’clock through Saturday.
