(Photo via Casey McNulty/WCSN)
TUCSON — Down south in rival territory, Sun Devil swim and dive had one goal: finish the regular season with a pair of wins. The dual against Arizona was the Devils’ last chance to improve their overall records and fine-tune their races before the championship season.
It was a blowout right from the start by the Sun Devil men, leaving no opportunity for the Wildcats to close their major point deficit. The meet finished with a score of 227-73 in ASU’s favor.
Sophomore Zalan Sarkany started things off for the men individually in the 1000-yard freestyle. His time of 8 minutes and 39.89 seconds was a mere second away from his school record and good enough for first place by almost thirty seconds. Sarkany also swam the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley, two events he does not usually swim.
Sophomore Hubert Kós also found himself swimming off-events Saturday as he competed in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Kós demonstrated his impressive versatility by snagging second place in the butterfly and fourth in the freestyle.
Junior Léon Marchand swam the 200- and 100-yard butterfly against the Wildcats instead of his usual breaststroke races. In typical Marchand fashion, he won both of his individual events by a large margin. The junior also swam the 400-yard freestyle relay, splitting a 41.39 from a flat start. His time in the relay would have won the individual event by nearly a second.
Senior Jack Dolan dominated the sprint freestyle events as he took first place in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. Dolan was also a member of ASU’s B team in the 400-yard freestyle relay and split a blazing 41.48.
The most impressive swim of the day came from junior Tiago Behar. Initially an exhibition swimmer in the 200-yard freestyle, Behar’s time of 1:32.91 was blistering fast. If his time counted, he would have won the entire event. The junior was pumped about his swim and celebrated by slapping the water after he touched the wall.
For diving, sophomore Lane Stallworth, senior Zachory Lundgen, and sophomore Caleb Liban claimed second, fourth, and sixth in the men’s 1-meter. In the 3-meter, Lundgren placed second, and Liban placed fifth.
The Sun Devil women were able to clutch up and secure the win by 78 points against the Wildcats. With the 189-111 victory over Arizona, the Devils improved their conference record to 3-3.
It was all about the Sun Devil sophomores in Tucson, as Charli Brown, Deniz Ertan, and Zoe Summar each had a pair of outstanding performances.
Brown proved to be the queen of the backstroke events, claiming three first-place finishes. She also narrowly missed achieving personal best times in the 200- and 100-yard backstroke.
Ertan, a distance swimmer easily won the 1000- and 500-yard freestyle. She also dabbled with her sprinting side when she swam the 200-yard freestyle and claimed sixth.
Summar racked up the points for the Devils when she placed second in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. The sophomore was also one-tenth of a second from achieving a personal best time in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Senior Lindsay Looney was one of ASU’s most consistent swimmers during the meet. Looney took first in the 200- and 100-yard butterfly and further solidified her status among the top butterfliers in the NCAA. She also had the fastest split for the ASU women’s A team in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Divers freshman Kayden Hayes and sophomore Amayah Wiley placed second and third in the 1-meter event, respectively. In the 3-meter, Hayes and Wiley took second and third again, while senior Ashlyn Kirsch and freshman Vera Brewer took fourth and fifth.
Next up for both Sun Devils squads is the Pac-12 Conference championships at the end of the month. There, the men’s team will look to replicate last year’s title performance while the women aim to beat last season’s fifth-place finish.
