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