BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Tx. – LSU swimmer Brooks Curry finished the first day of the Art Adamson Invitational Wednesday with a win in the 50-free, swimming an official time of 19.09. The time is the second-best in his career after his impressive finish at the 2021 SEC Championships with a time of 18.97.
Earlier in the day, Curry swam in the prelim for the same event and finished with a time of 19.14.
“It was a great night for Tiger swimming,” LSU head swimming coach Rick Bishop said. “We posted a lot of best times and at this point in the season, we’re further ahead than in the past. The energy, the excitement the team is carrying forward with the performances is really setting us up for a great second half of the year.
“I think we’re in a great position going into the second half of the year,” Bishop continued. “We have two more days here, so we really want to keep the energy and the momentum going. It’s been a great first day.”
Wednesday Finals
The first final of the night was the 200-yard free relay, in which the Tigers performed well. For the women, the ‘A’ squad placed fourth with a time of 1:30.78 and the ‘B’ team placed seventh with a time of 1:32.71. On the men’s side, the ‘A’ squad placed third with a time of 1:18.71 and the ‘B’ team placed 11th with a time of 1:22.56.
In the individual events, 15 Tigers set personal bests.
In the 500-yard free, Jolee Liles took third place with a time of 4:46.52 and freshman Jenna Bridges placed fifth with a time of 4:48.93. Reagan Sweeney and Allison Tomsuden placed 12th and 13th, respectively with times of 4:55.51 and 4:55.52. Johannah Cangelosi took 15th place with a time of 4:58.80. For the men, Ryan Warmbier, Joel Thompson and Isak Vikstrom participated in the ‘C’ final. Warmbier finished in first place for the final and placed 17th overall with a time of 4:25.52. Thompson finished in 20th place with a time of 4:27.86 and Vikstrom finished right behind him in 21st place with a time of 4:28.86.
For the 200-yard IM, Hannah Bellina placed 11th with a time of 2:02.30 and Maddie Clifton finished right behind her with a time of 2:02.64. Brittany Thompson placed 20th with a time of 2:03.62 and freshman Sasha Ramey finished in 21st place with a time of 2:03.80. Emily Pawlaski placed 29th with a time of 2:05.74.
In the Men’s 200-yard IM, sophomore Emil Hassling finished in sixth place with a time of 1:45.80 after competing in the ‘A’ final. Sophomore Mitch Mason and freshman Griffin Curtis finished in 12th and 13th place with respective times of 1:47.44 and 1:47.95.
In the 50-yard free for the women, Katarina Milutinovich took fourth place with a time of 22.61. Freshman Peyton Curry finished in ninth place with a time of 22.77 – the first time she’s swam under 23 seconds in her young career. Natalie Kucsan placed 12th with a time of 23.20 and Reagan Osborne placed 14th with a time of 23.44. Maddie Howell, Pawlaski and Sarah Grace Thompson all finished in the top-28.
For the men in the 50-free, Jack Jannasch finished in 11th place with a time of 20.03, while Nicholas Toepfer placed 29th with a time of 20.70, and Spencer Adrian placed 30th with a time of 20.71.
Wednesday Prelims
LSU took to the Rec Center Natatorium pool earlier that morning to participate in the day’s prelims and 27 Tigers advanced to the finals Wednesday night.
In the prelims, LSU impressed by qualifying five Tigers for an ‘A’ final. In the 500-yard free, Liles and Bridges earned the opportunity to compete in the ‘A’ final with respective times of 4:49.82 and 4:50.61. Bridges’ prelim time is a personal best.
For the men’s 200-yard IM, Hassling took third place in the seventh heat with a time of 1:46.44. His prelim time qualified him for Wednesday night’s final.
For the 50-yard free, two Tigers qualified for the ‘A’ final in Milutinovich and Brooks. For the women, Milutinovich placed sixth for the event with a time of 22.84. Curry, 2020 Tokyo Olympian, swam the fastest time of the day and the event with a 19.14. He now holds the fastest time in the NCAA for the event and improved his previous season-best of 19.51.
The rest of the 22 Tigers who qualified participated in the ‘B’ or ‘C’ finals. For the 500-free, Sweeney, Tomsuden and Cangelosi competed in the ‘B’ final with respective prelim times of 4:56.16, 4:54.98 and 4:59.76. For the men, Warmbier, Vikstrom and Thompson qualified for the ‘C’ final.
In the 200-IM, Bellina and Clifton qualified for the ‘B’ final with times of 2:02.61 and 2:03.41. Thompson and Ramey competed in the ‘C’ final and Pawlaski swam in the ‘D’ final. For the men, Mason and Curtis qualified for the ‘B’ final with prelim times of 1:47.14 and 1:47.04.
For the final event of the prelim session, nine Tigers qualified for a final in the 50-free. Kucsan, Peyton Curry and Osborne’s prelim times qualified them for the ‘B’ final. Howell qualified for the ‘C’ final, while Sarah Grace and Pawlaski qualified for the ‘D’ final.
Thursday Order of Events
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breaststroke
100 Back
800 Free Relay
The LSU diving team begins their midseason matchup in the Texas Diving Invitational Thursday morning. To find live stats, visit lsul.su/3D0r9dq. To watch the Tigers in action, download the ESPN app, or visit lsul.su/3kIwI99. Competition will begin at 10:30 a.m. CT with prelims on the one-meter for men and three-meter for women. The top-8 divers advance to the finals.
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