re: LSU Swimming...Is this the worst performing sport for LSU currently?

Louisiana is one of the worst swimming states in the nation. Also hard to get the top kids in the state when LSU doesn’t put money into their swim program like other SEC schools.

Dave Geyer also can’t recruit to save his life.

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Damn, The Rant is firing swimming coaches now too?

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As we all know, life is tough on the Rant.

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I would guess facilities and coach. You don’t need Louisiana to put out studs. You have to go find them Which means connections with club teams around the country. Kentucky is battling to win the sec this year. Not a ton of Kentucky kids on the team. Heck Kentucky has a girl on the team from an lsu family who is getting points at the sec meet.

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Good note on the Kentucky head coach, former Coach at LSU.

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Also, to be fair. LSU will finish in the bottom few of the SEC, but when they go to NCAA championship they will finish likely in the 18-25 range, which is a good to great finish for LSU historically. This is because they are not a deep or well rounded team, but the few people they have that are good, are actually really really great. Same thing happens in Track and Field where some teams are set up to perform better at their conference meet and some are set up to perform better at the NCAA championship.

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Yep, I expect Brooks Curry to tear it up next week and at the NCAA's. I believe he went 42.3 or 42.4 in his 100 free at A&M, and tapered I think he can go 40 point. Assuming that Mizzou has decent pool. If not I think he will get that at NCAA's.

You are talking about something that you know nothing about. A 15 year old young man was ranked #1 in the nation among 15 year olds in the 100 Breaststroke last year. He is an automatic all american. He was also #1 in the 200 IM. Louisiana has fast swimmers that are recruited regularly. The two young men that were signed to Auburn are among the fastest in the country Don't dump on the kids just because LSU fails to step up. These kids train year round, many in outdoor pools, before and after school. Then, on the weekends. Their conditioning and dedication is unparalleled. You should be ashamed of your self for trashing the kids, their efforts and our state programs.

Hippidyhop, thank you for pointing this out. Yes I did make an incorrect statement about elite swimmers in Louisiana, and admitted that later saying that there are elite swimmers, it’s more of the programs as a whole are not elite based on USA swimming’s tiering program. I don’t mean to talk bad about any kid that’s for sure. You can see more with the posts after the initial post.

Didnt LSU fire the last swimming coach bc the athletes complained he worked them too hard ? Had them up and running early in the morning , made them work out/run when they broke rules ?

As a lifelong Louisiana swimmer, LSU swimming alum, and parent of a current age group top 16 kid I wholeheartedly agree that with the points that:

Louisiana swimming is and always has been weak. Across the state we have weak club teams and most operate out of poor facilities as well. Outdated outdoor fitness club or country club pools year round doesn’t help to attract kids to enter/stay/grow in the sport. Sure we have a few standouts in Louisiana year in/year out but there’s no depth to competition. Then keeping those kids in state for college is next to impossible once they visit a couple programs in the SEC and see what’s out there. Mississippi & Arkansas are pretty weak swimming states also, and we’re not even pulling any of their age group standouts in here either.

LSU needs to ditch the Nat. Albeit the pool itself is fast (and the diving well is adequate), the building and amenities are horrible. LSU can’t flourish with weak facilities. I can’t think of a div 1 program that does well in sub par facilities. The Nat isn’t on par to host SEC championships much less an age group championship meet. It’s poorly kept (dirty) and not air conditioned. It’s horrible, hot/humid or cold in there 8 months of the year. There’s no spectator gallery. The locker rooms came the year after I finished and they are half assed and poorly kept at best. Last time I was there the door to the little varsity locker room was broken off the hinges... nice look. None of the suit dryers even worked. The facility itself doesn’t just help to recruit athletes, but also helps bring good coaches.

Recruiting. Agree with the above, Dave Geyer is a decent coach. But he’s not the full package. Not a personable guy. And he’s not getting the recruiting job done. Nor is he advocating for the program throughout the state (they didn’t even try to get the 3 recent AU signees, one of which is a freshman now and will likely score at conference). The head coaches in decades prior (Rick, Adam) didn’t do anything to bolster La swimming either. The lack of facilities (a swimmers home for 25-30 hours per week) is unappealing and doesn’t help his ploy in recruiting. Even the solid foreign swimmers are tough to get to LSU.

We were 4th at SEC and 12th national in the mid/late 1990s when I was there. Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee used to spank us. But we could compete with all the others (even Florida) and beat A&M and Missouri before they were SEC. Now we compete to not get last every year. Unless something major changes I can’t see my son going there should his career keep trending the way it is. Some big changes are going to have to start with the AD or the program will continue in mediocrity or fold. All the other SEC schools found a way to get a quality facility that’s viable. But Louisiana has a history of settling for the lowest common denominator so I’m not surprised.