SEC Weekly Analysis: Alabama-LSU Rivalry Renewed

Photo Courtesy: Kyle Zedaker, LSU Athletics

By Dan D’Addona.

While most of the meets across the country the first week of the new year were low-key, one SEC rivalry heated up.

It wasn’t a training trip meet. It wasn’t a meet against a mid-major, it was a good, old fashioned conference rivalry. And it turned out that the rivalry was pretty even with Alabama beating LSU 161-138, while the LSU women beat Alabama 189-110.

This is one of the bigger, and yet unheralded rivalries in the SEC — at least in swimming. Nobody doubts this rivalry on the football field. But it is pretty entertaining in the water, too.

Several big performances, especially for this time of the season, highlighted all four teams.

Luke Kaliszak earned a win in the men’s 100 backstroke with a 47.32. Junior Christopher Reid swam a 1:46.93 to win the 200 backstroke while junior Bailey Scott won the 50 freestyle in 22.96.

Freshman Zane Waddell won the men’s 50 freestyle with a 20.13. Senior Anton McKee clinched the men’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 1:58.50 before coming back and earning the Tide’s final individual victory of the day, the men’s 400 individual medley with a 3:59.12.

LSU’s Colleen O’Neil, Kara Kopcso and Lizzie Cui tallied two individual wins apiece.

On the men’s side, Sven Saemundsson won two freestyle distance events for LSU.

Junior Mia Nonnenberg picked up the Tide’s first individual win of the morning with her 16:44.40 in the 1,650 freestyle. She later nabbed a win in the women’s 500 freestyle, touching the wall at 4:55.44. Nonnenberg won the 400 individual medley with a 4:16.48.

Here are the full results.

Here is what you might have missed in the SEC this week.

Georgia rolls past Arkansas

The Georgia women’s swimming and diving team remained unbeaten this season, overtaking Arkansas’ women 180.5-113.5 on Thursday.

Led by Olivia Smoliga, Stephanie Peters, Emily Cameron and Megan Kingsley, the No. 3 Lady Bulldogs (5-0, 3-0 SEC) swept by winning every event.

Smoliga posted wins in the 100-yard backstroke (55.61) and the 100-yard freestyle (50.86), while Cameron won both the breaststroke events, taking the 100- in 1:03.55 and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:15.81.

Peters was also a double winner, finishing the 500- freestyle in 4:47.59 and the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9:50.12. Kingsley took the top spot in both butterfly events, clocking 53.99 in the 100- and 1:57.88 in the 200-yard butterfly.

Georgia’s women swept the freestyle events with Veronica Burchill winning the 50 in 23.53 and Meryn McCann claiming the 200 in 1:50.06.

Kylie Stewart took the top spot in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:56.61 and Meaghan Raab touched the wall first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:02.05).

Smoliga, Cameron, Stewart and Burchill won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:42.07, while Kimberlee John-Williams, Jordan Stout, Sandra Scott and Meg Finnon combined for the fastest time in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:29.26).

Tennessee sweeps South Carolina

The Tennessee men cruised and the women rallied in the final event to sweep South Carolina on Friday.

The Tennessee men (2-4, 1-3 SEC) won 13 of 16 events for a 189-111 victory over the Gamecocks, led by junior Sam McHugh, who took first in the 1,650-yard freestyle, the 200 butterfly and the 200 IM.

The women’s meet came down to the final event. Trailing by a point heading into the 200 freestyle relay to end the meet, the Tennessee team of Madeline Banic, Alex Cleveland, Kira Toussaint and Erika Brown won the race in 1 minute, 32.21 seconds to deliver a 155-143 Volunteers victory.

Junior Ryan Coetzee and sophomore Kyle DeCoursey posted two wins each for the Vols. Coetzee took first in the 50 freestyle (20.56) and 100 butterfly (49.48). DeCoursey was a winner in the 100 freestyle (44.99) and 200 freestyle (1:38.31).

Florida beats Miami, Florida Atlantic

The No. 21 Florida women rolled past Miami 180-115 in the two teams’ first dual meeting since 2005.

Florida won 11 straight swimming events before counting the last two, the 200 IM and 400 free relay, as exhibition swims. The 100 fly marked the lone win for the Hurricanes by a slim .03 seconds.

Autumn Finke took care of distance, winning both the 500 free (4:55.48) and 1000 free (10:00.24).

Sherridon Dressel touched first in both sprint freestyles, timing out at 23.37 in the 50 and 51.15 in the 100.

Fellow freshman Kelly Fertel controlled the breaststroke events, placing first in the 100 (1:03.85) and 200 (2:17.90).

Emma Ball took first in the 100 back at 55.62, while Sydney Sell won the 200 in 2:01.46.

The Gators also beat Florida Atlantic 152-83 on the men’s side and 155-79 on the women’s.

The wins were widespread throughout Florida’s roster – Samuel Smith (1- and 3-meter) and Dressel (200 back and 200 free) were the only two Gators to capture multiple individual titles.

Arkansas beats Illinois

The Arkansas women won their 24th consecutive non-conference meet, beating the Illinois Fighting Illini 179-118.

Arkansas took home 11 first place finishes in the 16 event meet. The Razorbacks earned two of the top three spots in 12 different events, sweeping the top three in the 100 backstroke, 1m and 3m dives.

Molly Harvie (273.52) and Nicole Gillis (267.98) finished first and second in the one-meter springboard event, both recording NCAA Zone scores.

The duo also took the top two spots in the 3-meter dive with Harvie, garnering the first place spot (263.70) and Gillis claiming second (263.10).

In the 200 butterfly, Jessie Garrison touched first with a time of 2:01.07, setting an ARC pool record. Her time is the fourth fastest by an Arkansas swimmer this season in the event. She also took home the 200 IM title with a time of 2:04.65.

Two other Arkansas swimmers won multiple individual events. Madison Strathman captured the 100 (1:04.14) and 200 breaststroke (2:19.39) titles, while Chelsea Tatlow claimed the 100 (56.88) and 200 backstroke (2:02.91) events.

Kentucky wins shortened invite

At the conclusion of Friday’s events, the Kentucky men’s team leads Virginia Tech 75-56 and holds a whopping 93-32 advantage over Yellow Jackets. Kentucky’s 18th-ranked women’s team has also tallied a 72-59 lead over the Hokies and holds an impressive 99-32 command over Georgia Tech.

The second day of the meet was cancelled because of weather.

Kentucky’s group of women’s backstrokers continued its trend, sweeping the 200-yard backstroke event in remarkable fashion. Senior and defending NCAA champion in the event, Danielle Galyer led the way, posting a 1:56.74 to touch the wall first. Her sister, freshman Ali Galyer followed close behind with a 1:57.14 and junior Bridgette Alexander grabbed a third-place finish in 1:57.79. All three were NCAA B-cut times.

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