Category: Swimming and Diving

Maggie MacNeil, coach Drew Livingston earn SEC women’s swimming and diving awards

MacNeil was the Female Swimmer of the Year, while Livingston was named the Women’s Diving Coach of the Year.

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU swimmer Maggie MacNeil and diving head coach Drew Livingston received end-of-season awards from the Southeastern Conference, the league office announced Wednesday.

MacNeil earned the second SEC Female Swimmer of the Year honor in LSU’s women’s program history after an outstanding graduate season. In addition to pursuing her master’s degree in the classroom and maintaining a GPA over 4.0, her success in the pool was unlike any other swimmer in school history.

At the 2023 NCAA Championships, the London, Ontario, Canada product had the opportunity to add to her two national titles. Competing in the 50-yard free, 100-yard fly and 100-yard free, MacNeil qualified for the championship final in each event.

She won her third NCAA title in the 50-free after throwing down an NCAA record 20.79. The time also broke the U.S. Open, NCAA meet, LSU school, and pool marks. In addition, she took home silver in the 100-fly with a time of 48.51 and claimed bronze in the 100-free with a time of 46.58.

In her one and only SEC Championship appearance, MacNeil led the way with three individual gold medals. She won conference championships in the 50-free, 100-fly, and 100-free. MacNeil was also a part of the first relay victory at the conference meet since 1986. The Tigers won the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. The LSU women closed the meet with the most gold medals at a single SEC’s in school history with eight.

Livingston, who joined the program last June and replaced a diving legend in Doug Shaffer, was named the Female Diving Coach of the Year. Not even a year removed from his arrival in Baton Rouge, Livingston made a statement with his diver’s performances. This recognition marks the second straight season an LSU diving coach has received this honor.

He coached the women’s diving squad to an SEC title and a runner-up on the tower at NCAA’s. Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant completed both feats with the first SEC title on platform for the program since Cassie Weil in 2015. Lavenant also finished in second at the NCAA Championships becoming the first diver to finish in the top three on platform at the national meet since 2001.

Livingston coached a total of six divers through NCAA diving zones, qualifying each one for their respective championships. On the women’s side, LSU’s four qualifiers finished with two All-American honors from Lavenant and Chiara Pellacani.

The SEC also announced the athletes to receive to the Commissioner’s Trophy at the conference meet, along with All-SEC teams and the All-SEC Freshman teams.

Commissioner’s Trophy

Men

Jordan Crooks, Tennessee

Bryden Hattie, Tennessee

Baylor Nelson, Texas A&M

Women

Maggie MacNeil, LSU

All-SEC First-Team

Women

Kalia Antoniou, Alabama

Emily Jones, Alabama

Kensey McMahon, Alabama

Rhyan White, Alabama

Avery Wiseman, Alabama

Talia Bates, Florida

Micayla Cronk, Florida

Ekaterina Nikonova, Florida

Emma Weyant, Florida

Zoie Hartman, Georgia

Rachel Stege, Georgia

Megan Barnes, LSU

Jenna Bridges, LSU

Peyton Curry, LSU

Michaela De Villiers, LSU

Montserrat Lavenant, LSU

Maggie MacNeil, LSU

Katarina Milutinovich, LSU

Ella Varga, LSU

Brooke Schultz, South Carolina

Brooklyn Douthwright, Tennessee

Mona McSharry, Tennessee

All-SEC Second Team

Women

Diana Petkova, Alabama

Kailyn Winter, Alabama

Bella Cothern, Arkansas

Alessia Ferraguti, Arkansas

Kobie Melton, Arkansas

Andrea Sansores, Arkansas

Meghan Lee, Auburn

Maha Amer, Florida

Nina Kucheran, Florida

Katie Mack, Florida

Olivia Peoples, Florida

Aris Runnels, Florida

Jillian Barczyk, Georgia

Duné Coetzee, Georgia

Callie Dickinson, Georgia

Eboni McCarty, Georgia

Sloane Reinstein, Georgia

Caitlin Brooks, Kentucky

Kyndal Knight, Kentucky

Lauren Poole, Kentucky

Maggie Buckley, LSU

Chiara Pellacani, LSU

Sophie Verzyl, South Carolina

Aly Breslin, Tennessee

Julia Burroughs, Tennessee

Emma Carlton, Tennessee

Josephine Fuller, Tennessee

Julia Mrozinski, Tennessee

Jasmine Rumley, Tennessee

Kristen Stege, Tennessee

Sara Stotler, Tennessee

Giulia Goerigk, Texas A&M

Chloe Stepanek, Texas A&M

All-Freshman Team

Women

Emily Jones, Alabama

Betsy Wizard, Arkansas

Zoe Dixon, Florida

Hayden Miller, Florida

Lydia Hanlon, Kentucky

Grace Frericks, Kentucky

Denise Phelan, Kentucky

Megan Barnes, LSU

Michaela De Villiers, LSU

Ella Varga, LSU

Malin Grosse, Missouri

Kamryn Wong, Missouri

Giulia Goerigk, Texas A&M

Joslyn Oakley, Texas A&M

11 LSU women’s swimmers set to compete at NCAAs in Knoxville

The events began on Thursday morning.

Editor’s Note: The following is an official press release courtesy of LSU’s athletics department.

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – Eleven LSU swimmers and divers are getting ready for the 2023 NCAA Championships and the opportunity to vie for a national title starting Thursday in Knoxville at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center on the University of Tennessee’s campus.

“It’s really exciting to have such a large group of swimming and diving women representing LSU at the NCAA Championships this week,” head diving coach Drew Livingston said. “It speaks to the growth and strength of our women’s program. We’re not just here to participate, though. We have some student-athletes who have opportunities this week to score points, become All-Americans, and possibly win some national titles. The sky is the limit for what we can do this week and I’m excited to be a part of this team. Geaux Tigers!”

LSU, which is ranked No. 17 in the latest CSCAA dual meet poll, sent four individual swimmers, three relay alternates, and four divers. Maggie MacNeil will compete in the most events as an individual for the Tigers including the 50-yard free, 100-yard free, and 100-yard fly. She is also set to swim in at least two relays.

Additionally, LSU’s remaining individual competitors include 200-fly SEC Champion Jenna Bridges and freshman Megan Barnes. The Tigers’ 200-back SEC Champion Ella Varga, who is in her first year in Baton Rouge, will also compete individually. Bridges will swim in the 200-fly, Barnes will compete in the 200-free, and Varga will race in the 200-back.

On the diving side, LSU had an impressive outing in Minneapolis at the Zone D diving regional. The Tigers qualified a total number of nine times, and four different divers accomplished the feat.

Helle Tuxen and Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant qualified for all three events. Lavenant, who is the 2023 SEC Champion on platform looks to match her performance on the tower and score some valuable points on the springboard events. Chiara Pellacani, a four-time SEC medalist, finished within the required standard on both springboard events. Maggie Buckley qualified for her first NCAA meet on platform.

LSU begins its journey Thursday at 9 a.m. CT with the prelim session. The Tigers have participants in the 500-free, 50-free, one-meter diving, and 200-free relay events. The meet is available to stream on ESPN+ and live stats can be viewed on the MeetMobile app. For diving-specific events, divemeets.com carries live scores from dive to dive.

TICKET INFO
All-session tickets for the 2023 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships are sold out.

Diving prelim tickets will be sold for $10 each, beginning at approximately 12 p.m. ET each day of diving. Tickets will be sold outside the facility, and this only grants access to prelims.

All tickets will be mobile tickets. Individuals must download the Tennessee Volunteers app in order for the ticket to be transferred to them. All fans must possess a ticket and will be asked to show their ticket each time they enter the seating area of the facility. The only exception is for a child under two years of age that will be sitting on an adult’s lap. If the child needs his or her own seat at any point during the session, a ticket must be purchased.

Additional Details 

  • All tickets will be delivered via mobile ticketing. There will be no paper tickets available.
  • To access the tickets, fans will need to go to https://am.ticketmaster.com/allvols/ and use the email address in which the tickets were sent to create a new account or sign into their existing account.
  • Everyone who receives a ticket will need to download the Tennessee Athletics App.
  • They will need to save their tickets to their phones prior to the event to be safe in the event of Wi-FI issues on site. We will have scanners at all the doors to scan mobile tickets on the phones.
  • If there is an issue at the entrance with tickets, we will have a ticket office representative will be on site.
  • Here is the Tennessee guide to tickets: https://utsports.com/sports/2022/7/20/mobile-digital-ticketing.aspx 

ORDER OF EVENTS
Thursday, March 16
9 a.m. CT – Prelims
500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1-Meter
5 p.m. CT – Finals
500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 1-Meter, 200 Free Relay

Friday, March 17
9 a.m. CT – Prelims
400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3-Meter
5 p.m. CT – Finals
400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, 3-Meter, 400 Medley Relay

Saturday, March 18
9 a.m. CT – Prelims
200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, Platform
5 p.m. CT – Finals
1650 Free, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, Platform, 400 Free Relay

LSU swimmer Maggie MacNeil sets record with 50-back split at SEC Championships

The LSU women’s swim team leads the way at SECs after Day 1.

Editor’s Note: The following is an official press release from LSU’s athletic department.

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Tx. – LSU swimmer Maggie MacNeil continued her dominance in the NCAA season by adding the fastest 50-yard back split to her resume Tuesday on day one of the 2023 SEC Championships inside the Rec Center Natatorium.

LSU diver Chiara Pellacani finished the three-meter springboard finals in third place, earning a bronze medal – the first medal for the Tigers at the SEC meet. Pellacani closed the final session with a score of 341.85. In the prelim session, she finished in the top eight alongside Helle Tuxen and Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant.

Tuxen and Gutierrez Lavenant closed the finals with respective scores of 294.05 and 276.10.

After one day, the LSU women lead the way in first place with 178 points. Following behind in second and third going into day two are Florida (150) and Kentucky (149).

To begin the prelim session, the diving team competed in prelims for the men’s one-meter and women’s three-meter. On the men’s side, Adrian Abadia and Zayne Danielewicz finished in 15th and 17th place, respectively, which earned the Tigers its initial points of the meet. On three-meter, Maggie Buckley claimed 17th place and Hayley Montague placed 34th.

In the 200-yard medley, LSU claimed eighth, which was led off by MacNeil’s record-breaking performance. In addition to her individual record, the school record fell too. Held since 2009, the relay team of MacNeil, Hannah Womer, Hannah Bellina and Michaela de Villiers broke the longstanding record with a time of 1:36.59.

For the 800-yard freestyle relay, the LSU women placed fourth with a time of 7:02.12. The relay team of Katarina Milutinovich, Megan Barnes, Reagan Osborne and Chloe Cheng broke the second school record of the session. The previous record had been standing since 2016.

On the men’s side, the Tigers finished in eighth place with a time of 6:22.46.

The 2023 SEC Championships are available to stream on the ESPN app with each prelim and final session being housed on SECN+. Live stats for the meet’s entirety can be found on MeetMobile. Live results on the diving side can be accessed at divemeets.com, which updates after each individual dive.

ORDER OF EVENTS (All Times Central)
Wednesday, February 15
9:30 a.m.: Swimming Prelims
12:30 p.m.: Diving Prelims
5:30 p.m.: S&D Finals

Thursday, February 16
9:30 a.m.: Swimming Prelims
12:30 p.m.: Diving Prelims
5:30 p.m.: S&D Finals

Friday, February 17
9:30 a.m.: Swimming Prelims
12:30 p.m.: Diving Prelims
5:30 p.m.: S&D Finals

Saturday, February 18
9:30 a.m.: Swimming Prelims
12:30 p.m.: Diving Prelims
5:30 p.m.: S&D Finals

Notre Dame Sets Four Records on First Day of Shamrock Invitational

Notre Dame only has Missouri State as an opponent for this year’s Shamrock Invitational, but it’s not going to take it easy on the visitors.

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Notre Dame only has Missouri State as an opponent for this year’s Shamrock Invitational, but it’s not going to take it easy on the visitors. After the first day, the Irish have a 203-35 lead. Just as impressive as that lead is the fact that they set four pool records.

Jack Hoagland set two of the records with times of 4 minutes, 15.39 seconds in the 500-meter freestyle and 3:43.78 in the 400 individual medley. Charles Korndorffer finished with a 47.22 in the 100 butterfly. The final record came in the 200 medley relay compliments of Josh Bottelberghe, Topher Stensby, Cason Wilburn and Brendan Santana. That team finished its run in 1:26.23.

Coach Mike Litzinger was happy to see this beginning performance by his team in this final tuneup before championship season:

“The whole trick when you swim a championship format is not only the performance you just did, but what the future performance the next day or the next morning is going to look like. You have to prepare for that just as intensely as you’re prepared for the event that’s happening right now.

That’s just good practice for the end of the year when you swim multiple times over multiple days. You need to find a routine, and once you lock that routine in, you learn how to recover: fuel properly, use all our recovery tools that we have available to us. Then, all of a sudden, you’re ready to perform at a championship level.”

Former Notre Dame swimming coach sues for gender discrimination

A former swimming coach is suing over how she was treated after informing the university of her pregnancy.

Notre Dame is the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by a former swimming coach. April Jensen, once an associate coach with the program, is suing for gender and pregnancy discrimination along with retaliation. She will look to collect damages and equitable relief.

Jensen said that in May 2019, she informed her supervisor of her pregnancy, then returned to her post that fall visibly pregnant. She alleges that she then was subject to one injustice, discrimination and humiliation after another, both before and after she went on maternity leave. Eventually, she was informed over a Zoom call with her supervisor and the assistant athletic director that her contract was being terminated. The suit says that she was let go over the previous years and not her coaching or relationships with student-athletes.

When WBND-LD, South Bend’s ABC affiliate, reached out to Notre Dame for a response, the university said, “Because this is pending litigation, we have no comment.”

Notre Dame Women’s Swimming Victorious at Shamrock Invitational

The Notre Dame women’s swimming team followed the men by winning their portion of the Shamrock Invitational, 260-109, over Akron.

The Notre Dame women’s swimming team followed the men by winning their portion of the Shamrock Invitational, 260-109, over Akron. The highlight was a program record set by Kelly Straub. In the 1-meter, she scored a 340.35 over her six dives. The previous record was set in 2012.

The Irish also got key performances from Bayley Stewart, who clocked in at 1 minute, 53.46 seconds in the 200-meter backstroke, and Coleen Gillilan, who had a 1:55.37 in the 200 butterfly. Both of those times were pool records, bringing the total number of pool records set by both the men’s and women’s teams during the Shamrock Invitational to seven.

In the morning session, Gillilan won the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.40 and joined the team of Carly Quast, Cailey Grunhard and Ellie Jew to win the 200 medley relay in 1:39.27. Luciana Thomas took the 400 individual medley in 4:13.25, Stewart won the 100 backstroke in 53.35, and Kallie Chelsvig clocked in a 1:49.49 to win the 200 freestyle.

For the afternoon session, Madeline LaPorte won the 1,650 freestyle in 16:25.48. The final win came from the 400 free relay team of Gillilan, Quast, Rachel Wittmer and Skyler Fore (3:19.51).

Notre Dame Men Earn Senior Day Win in Shamrock Invitational

After getting off to such a strong start against Missouri State in the Shamrock Invitational on Thursday, Friday merely was a curtain call.

After getting off to such a strong start against Missouri State in the Shamrock Invitational on Thursday, Friday merely was a curtain call. As it also was Senior Day, the day began with a ceremony to honor those who are moving on. Then, the Irish won in every category to earn a 268-86 victory.

Austin Flaute was the winner in both the 1-meter (350.18) and 3-meter (379.43) diving events. On the swimming side, the Irish increased their NCAA B-Cuts for the meet to nine. Winners were Jack Hoagland in the 1,650-meter freestyle (14 minutes, 59.49 seconds), Jack Fitzpatrick in the 200 backstroke (1:45.09), Cason Wilburn in the 100 freestyle (43.60), Tyler Christianson in the 200 breaststroke (1:55.49) and Max Miranda in the 200 butterfly (1:46.99).

The women began their portion of the meet Friday against Akron, and they hold an 84-26 lead after six events. It began with a win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:30.78) by the team of Coleen Gillian, Cailey Grunhard, Rachel Wittmer and Carly Quast. Skylar Fore joined Gillian, Quast and Grunhard to win the 400 medley relay in 3:35.90. Individual winners were Gillian in the 200 individual medley (1:57.46), Grunhard in the 50 freestyle (23.23) and Luciana Thomas in the 500 freestyle (4:46.48).

Swimmer Michael Flynn Commits to Notre Dame for 2022-23

Notre Dame’s men’s swimming and diving team now has four commits for the class of 2026.

Notre Dame’s men’s swimming and diving team now has four commits for the class of 2026. This became official after Michael Flynn of Brookfield, Illinois, made the following announcement:

“I am extremely humbled to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Notre Dame. I would like to thank all my coaches, teammates, friends, and family who have helped me get to where I am today. Go Irish ☘️”

Flynn, who swims for Fenwick and Lyons Aquatics, has joined the group of junior commits that already featured Jack Anderson, Tate Bacon and Dillon Edge. He specializes in freestyle events as evidenced by his third-place finish in the 500-meter freestyle (4 minutes, 29.06 seconds) and ninth-place finish in the 200 (1:40.63) at the Illinois state meet. He also competes in the breaststroke and individual medley.

Flynn will be a freshman at Notre Dame at the same time current Irish swimmer Liam Hutchinson is a senior. Like Flynn, Hutchinson hails from Fenwick and also specializes in the freestyle and individual medley. He placed third in the 500 freestyle four times in 2019-20.

Winter Juniors Finalist Bryce Ortanes Selects Notre Dame

Notre Dame continues to receive verbal commitments for its Class of 2025.

Notre Dame continues to receive verbal commitments for its Class of 2025. The latest swimmer to pledge his services to the Irish is Bryce Ortanes, a senior at Cherry Creek High School in the Denver area. Ortanes made the following Instagram post in announcing his decision:

Ortanes is at his best when it comes to the backstroke. That’s a relief to an Irish team that just graduated Jack Montesi, its best swimmer in that event last season. However, backstrokers Joe Hunt and Kaden Smesko will join Notre Dame this season.

In 2019, Ortenas was on a Cherry Creek team that won a state championship. He was on the relay teams that won both the 200-meter medley and 400 freestyle. Individually, he was fourth in the 50 freestyle (21.11 seconds) and eighth in the 100 backstroke (51.15).

Ortenas does his club swimming with the Aquawolves Swim Team, which he represented in the 2019 Speedo Winter Junior Championships. There, he set personal bests in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 and 200 backstrokes.

The Irish landed a real winner here, and he should make an impact quickly upon arriving in South Bend.

Notre Dame Receives Commitment From Swimmer Reese Lugbill

The Notre Dame women’s swimming team has received another verbal commitment for the class of 2025.

The Notre Dame women’s swimming team has received another verbal commitment for the class of 2025. This one comes from Reese Lugbill of Mason, Ohio. The Irish will have plenty of bodies in the future as they now have 10 women’s swimmers for the aforementioned class.

Lugbill’s announcement is as follows:

“I am beyond excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic careers at the University of Notre Dame!! Thank you to my family, coaches, and teammates who helped me get to this point! Can’t wait! Go Irish☘️”

Lugbill was an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 200-meter breaststroke. As a club swimmer for Mason Manta Rays, she finished in the top eight at the Southern Premier Invitational four times and was a finalist in the 400 individual medley at Juniors East. She also was 17th in the 200 breaststroke at Junior Nationals last summer.

For Mason High School, she has been a finalist for the Ohio State Championship six times. As a sophomore, she had her best finishes in her respective events: third in the 200 individual medley and fourth in the 100 breaststroke. She also was recognized as an NISCA and USA Swimming Scholastic All-American.