ASU Men’s Swim & Dive: Historic Pac-12 meet serves as stepping stone for the Sun Devils

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

“We had a plan in place going on eight years to get to this level, so it’s nice to see it come to fruition,” Arizona State Men’s Swimming head coach Bob Bowman said.

Over the past few years, Bowman has steadily added several key building blocks to help ASU’s swimming program reach its potential and sustain success. Senior Grant House was one of the first pieces. House, the oldest and longest-tenured swimmer on the team, has been through highs and lows at ASU.

House began his Sun Devil career in the 2017-18 season when the team finished 4-4, fourth in the Pac-12, and 20th at the NCAA Championships. Now, after five seasons, and under Bowman’s tutelage, the Sun Devils have won their first-ever Pac-12 Championship.

In a season full of many firsts, the Arizona State men’s swim and dive team won the Pac-12 Championships for the first time in program history Saturday, compiling 897.5 points in the four-day meet. ASU defeated reigning Pac-12 and NCAA Champion California by nearly 80 points, marking the first time a team outside of California has won the meet.

The Sun Devils have dominated their competition since suffering a 46-44 season-opening dual loss to Georgia on Sept. 30. Following the loss, ASU has won eight straight meets, including four against ranked Pac-12 opponents.

During the Pac-12 Championships, ASU won nine events and set eight program records in the historic win.

Superstar sophomore Léon Marchand set a world record in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in one minute, 47.67 seconds. Marchand established the record after winning two additional individual races – the 200 and 400 individual medleys.

Marchand was crucial to all three of the Sun Devils’ relay wins in the 200 medley relay, the 400 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay. For his performance, Marchand was named Swimmer of the Meet for the second consecutive year.

Senior Jack Dolan, one of the team’s best sprinters, notched his first individual Pac-12 victory in the 50 freestyle in 18.86 seconds, the fastest in program history. Additionally, Dolan has been vital to ASU’s dominant relays this season, and he helped the Sun Devils take home the crown in the 200 and 400 medley relays.

House earned his third career individual victory in the Pac-12 Championships. He won the 200 free, while also being an integral member of the record-breaking 800 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay.

House knows that the team has always set its goals higher than winning the Pac-12s.

“The Pac-12s was definitely the best preparation point we had,” House said. “That’s why we suited up against Stanford, Cal and Arizona. Truly, none of us really talked about winning a Pac-12 title this year. It was just going to be a byproduct of the process that we’ve been on.”

Freshman Zalan Sarkany continued his excellent first semester in Tempe. The phenom set another program record during his title-winning 1650 freestyle swim. He became the first Sun Devil to win the mile since CJ Nuess did so in 2008. Sarkany broke his own program record by eight seconds, taking home the event in 14:41.65.

In his first four meets as a Sun Devil, Sarkany has established himself as one of the top distance swimmers in the country. Additionally, Sarkany has added more depth to an already dominant ASU program that needed more distance.

“Zalan was really important for us,” Bowman said. “We wanted to strengthen our distance swimming, and when he became available, we knew he’d be someone who could step in and score big points there.”

While the top finishers were vital to the Sun Devils’ conference success this season, it’ll take an entire team to win a national championship. At the Pac-12 Championships, ASU saw 13 swimmers place among the top eight in individual events. Additionally, the Sun Devils won three relays and placed second in the 400 freestyle relay.

Alongside Sarkany’s record-breaking performance, ASU added two more top-six finishes in the 1650 freestyle. Sophomore Daniel Matheson placed second, and junior Julian Hill placed sixth in the final. Matheson, who completed the race seven seconds after Sarkany, would have set the program record if it weren’t for Sarkany’s impressive feat.

Four Sun Devils – House, Dolan, sophomore Patrick Sammon and freshman Jonny Kulow – placed in the top eight in the 100 freestyle, while juniors Alex Colson and Andrew Gray finished on the podium in the 200 butterfly.

Freshmen Owen McDonald and Hubert Kos were top-five finishers in the 200 backstroke. Both freshmen have been critical to the team’s success this season. McDonald has been reliable in numerous events, routinely notching top finishes in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Kos made his ASU debut against Stanford on Jan. 20, in which he came away with three top-three finishes. Kos was exceptional in the final dual meet of the season, winning two races against Arizona in early February.

The Sun Devils will compete in the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota, beginning on March 22. They look to build off Saturday’s historic Pac-12 Championships victory. ASU placed sixth overall in last season’s national finale, the program’s highest NCAA finish since 1982. ASU is ranked No. 1 heading into the competition, where they’ll vie for the program’s first national championship.