AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn Swimming & Diving will compete in its first full dual meet of the season, taking on LSU on Thursday, Nov. 5. The meet is the final competition of preparation ahead of the midseason meets in two weeks.
The Auburn men were ranked 14th in the most recent CSCAA poll, rising from 17th in the preseason poll. The Tiger women kept their rank at 19th. LSU found themselves in a similar position in last week's CSCAA poll, with the women at 17th and the men at 18th.
Thursday will be the first time in the 2026-27 season that the men's and women's teams will compete separately.
MEET INFO
Thursday's meet will take place at the LSU Natatorium. The diving portion of the meet will begin at 11 a.m. CT, followed by the swimming session at 12 p.m. CT. The meet can be watched on SEC Network+, with live results available on the Meet Mobile app and DiveMeets.
The meet will be scored separately for the men's and women's teams for the first time this season for Auburn.
The swimming session will feature the following order of events, with each women's event directly preceding the men's event:
- 200 medley relay
- 1000 freestyle
- 200 freestyle
- 100 backstroke
- 100 breaststroke
- 200 butterfly
- 50 freestyle
- 100 freestyle
- 200 backstroke
- 200 breaststroke
- 500 freestyle
- 100 freestyle
- 200 IM
- 400 freestyle relay
LAST TIME IN THE LANES
Auburn finished its inaugural season in the College Swimming League at CSL Match Six in Athens. The match was highlighted by Zetta Grace Bartee breaking Ava Ohlgren's 18-year-old record in the 200 butterfly, with a 1:54.44 performance. Bartee set the school record in just her third career collegiate race in the 200 butterfly.
Warner Russ was a top performer at the meet, winning 50 free skins with a .11 second victory over Alabama's Toni Dragoja in the final round. Russ won the final two heats of the event, including a 20.63 finish over Dragoja in the head-to-head fourth round to win the event.
Russ, along with Mike Rice, Matthew Hamilton, and Nicolas Gama, won the 200 freestyle relay with a 1:16.28 finish. All four Tigers of the race swam a sub-19.2 second leg. Russ's 19.03 leadoff performance placed him as the 10th-quickest Auburn Tiger ever in the 50 freestyle. Gama anchored the race with a 19.00 leg, driving the Tiger victory and allowing Auburn to choose the discipline in the skins event.
Gabriel Machuco swept the individual medley events, winning both the 100 IM and 200 IM. Machuco swam a 1:42.96 in the 200 IM, a personal best, making him the sixth-fastest Tiger ever in the event with the 17th-best time in school history. Machuco won the 100 IM in 47.14.
Kaua Carvalho made his mark on the Auburn record book with a 52.35 finish in the 100 breaststroke, making him the eighth-fastest performer in the event in Auburn history.
Zoey Zeller placed her fifth different time on the Auburn 200 breaststroke top-25 list with a 2:09.21 finish in Athens. The time was her fourth best of her career.
LAST TIME IN THE DIVING WELL
Tiger Diving has not competed since Oct. 17 at Georgia Tech's dual meet tournament where Auburn defeated Georgia Tech, 225-169.
In Atlanta, Juliette Landi dominated the field, winning five of six diving events on the weekend, finishing the weekend with a 170.15 total across three dives in a three-meter victory.
Chloe Brothers took the one event Landi did not win. Brothers totaled 153.15 across three dives in the one-meter diving against Georgia Tech.
On the men's side, Peder Hubred and Ben Wilson each won the three-meter and one-meter, respectively, against George Washington. Then Ethan Swart swept both events against Kentucky with a 204.10 in the three-meter event.
THE LSU OUTLOOK
Both of LSU's teams are featured in the CSCAA rankings. The women's team checks in at No. 17, one spot ahead of its preseason ranking. The men's team fell to No. 18 after a loss to Navy earlier in the season.
The LSU women are 3-0 in dual meets this season, coming off a dominant 215-83 win over No. 25 Texas A&M. LSU's Martina Bukvic broke a 15-year-old school record with a 58.58 finish. The Tiger women swept the event with wins in every event.
LSU's men's team is 2-1 in dual meets. The men's team is also off a strong win over No. 24 Texas A&M, defeating the Aggies 181.5-116.5. LSU saw two school records on the men's side of the pool, coming from Jere Hribar (45.36, 100 butterfly) and Nikola Simic (8:47.41, 1000 freestyle)
UP NEXT
In two weeks, Auburn heads to midseason at the Wolfpack Invitational and Tennessee Diving Invitational. Both events begin on Wed., Nov. 18, spanning multiple days into the weekend.
—War Eagle—