BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, October 2. The LSU women\u2019s swimming and diving team opens up the 2014-15 dual meet season at Tulane (0-1) Friday, at 5 p.m. in the Reily Natatorium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the first dual meet of the season so early I\u2019m proud and encouraged by the progress that we have made,\u201d LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. \u201cWe\u2019ve set a really good foundation for the future part of our season. This is a great opportunity to compete in state and I know our girls really look forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lady Tigers defeated Tulane last season 211-89 and own an 18-2 overall record over the Green Wave that dates back to the 1978-79 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this meet against Tulane gives us an opportunity to see where our dual meet lineup is at prior to competition,\u201d LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said. \u201cWe will go down there and compete in our primary events to set that standard in our program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five NCAA Qualifiers in Alex Bettridge, Kara Kopcso, Cassie Weil, Amber Carter and Caley Oquist pace the Lady Tigers. Carter qualified last season in the 100 fly and took first in the \u2018C\u2019 final at SEC Championships.<\/p>\n
Weil is a four-time All American, which includes a First-Team All America honor last season on platform. Bettridge was a 2012 NCAA Honorable Mention All American and set the program record on one-meter last season.<\/p>\n
Kopcso owns the program record in the 200 fly and 800 freestyle relay. The Mandeville, Louisiana native was named to the SEC All-Freshmen team and qualified for the United States Junior Pan Pacific team over the summer.<\/p>\n
Oquist burst on to the scene last season with record setting performances in the 100 and 200 back at SEC Championships. The junior was also a part of the 400-medley relay team that set the LSU record.<\/p>\n
New Lady Tigers to look out for this season are Kate Zimmer and Jane MacDougall. MacDougall was a silver medalist and B finalist at the 2013 Canada Senior National Meet. Zimmer, out of Missoula, Montana, was a state champion in the 50 free and 100 fly for Big Mount High School.<\/p>\n
\u201cKate is a dynamic swimmer for our team. She swam one of her fastest in season times at the intrasquad meet,\u201d Geyer added. \u201cWe look forward to see how she responds to collegiate training. Jane is another new face who will make an impact. Every time she races she will get better as she adjusts to short-course yards.\u201d<\/p>\n