(Photo: Courtesy of Kara Durrette/Big 12 Conference)
TEMPE – Since joining the Big 12 for the 2024 season, the Arizona State swim and dive teams have yet to lose a Big 12 Championship. Both the men’s and the women’s teams have gone back-to-back, making their presence known in the the conference.
As the days pass by, the ASU swim and dive teams are ready to dive back into the season. The Sun Devils will take to the water for the first time on Sep. 25 for an intrasquad scrimmage. The following week comes with their first official meet falling on Oct. 2 against UNLV at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. Both teams are coming off of top-40 finishes in the NCAA Championships with their sights set on repeating this feat again.
Head coach Herbie Behm has racked up countless achievements at ASU so far, including 27 All-American swimmers, 56 Big 12 champions and 15 event national championships in his two-year career. Behm has been in the program dating back to the 2018-2019 season, serving as an assistant coach before taking over as head coach in April of 2024.
Women’s Swim and Dive
The Arizona State women’s swim and dive team is ready for another season as they look to defend their back-to-back Big 12 titles. ASU holds a record of 13-11-1 under Behm in the last two seasons while adding a 11-3-1 record when defending the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. While the Sun Devils have excelled when playing in Tempe, their struggle has been playing on the road where they hold a 1-5 record over the last two seasons.
The comforts of home have played into ASU’s favor, but the next step for the team is repeating that same comfortability and performance wherever they are. The past two seasons have come with NCAA Championships appearances, finishing in 19th in the 2024-2025 season and tied for 37th last season.
For the first time since 2016, the Sun Devils finished outside of the top 30 teams at the NCAA Championships. In hopes of a bounce back year after a 5-5-1 record, the Sun Devils brought in 11 new first-years into the program.
However, these fresh faces will need some guidance as they begin to get their feet wet. Three players that could guide the wave for the Sun Devils are fourth-year Alexa Reyna, fourth-year Miriam Sheehan and third-year Julia Ullmann.
Reyna is coming off a strong season for ASU, winning the 400 individual medley in the Big 12 championships, leading to a qualification at the NCAA level. Over the summer, Reyna competed in the French Elite National Championships, bringing two silver medals and a bronze medal back to the desert.
Sheehan has been a leading force for the Sun Devils and has earned All-American honors in all three years so far at ASU. The 2020 Tokyo Olympian is coming off of a win at the Big 12 championships and she participated in three events at the NCAA Championships last season
Finally, Ullmann is going into her third year with the program as a four-time Big 12 champion and three-time All-American. She also earned NCAA second-team All-American honors last season for finishing between ninth and 16th in the 200 medley relay.
The new season also comes with first-time swimmers in the pool for ASU. The Sun Devils incoming class was ranked as No. 11 in the country per SwimSwam, showing that they might be on track for the bounce back year they desire.
One of the most notable first-years traveling to Tempe is Riley Christensen, a local prospect from Nevada. Christensen is ranked as the No. 1 swimmer in Nevada and No. 130 in the nation. The former Nevada Sandpiper competed at the Speedo Sectionals in Walnut, California, in Dec. and finished first in the 1650 free while also finishing second and third in two other events.
Another newcomer heading to the desert is Maya Hetland from California, though she also represents Norway internationally. Hetland is ranked No. 6 in all of California and No. 73 in the nation. Back in March, the Palo Alto Stanford swimmer finished fifth in the 200 fly at the TYR Pro Series in Westmount, while also recording personal bests in the 200 back (2:16.33) and 100 fly (1:00.85).
Men’s Swim and Dive
Dating back to the 2022-23 season, the Arizona State men’s swim and dive team has been making big splashes in the pool. During that season, ASU picked up their first Pac-12 championship in program history. Since then, the team has not lost a conference championship, adding one more Pac-12 championship and two Big 12 championships in the last three years. Over that four-year stretch, the Sun Devils also have an astounding record of 37-2-1.
Since that pivotal season just four years ago, ASU has also not placed outside of the top six teams in the nation at the NCAA Championships while adding a national title in the 2023-24 season. The maroon and gold had yet another impressive year in the 2025-26 season, finishing 10-0 and fourth at the NCAA Championships.
With 14 Big 12 champions and eight All-Americans on last year’s team, the Sun Devils took first in five events at the NCAA Championships. These events include the 200 and 400 yard freestyle relays, 200 and 400 medley relays and an individual 200 butterfly for fourth-year Ilya Kharun. The medley winners consisted of Kharun, Remi Fabiani, Adam Chaney, Jonny Kulow and Andy Dobrzanski. All of whom have now graduated from ASU except for Kharun.
With the Big 12 Swimmer of the Year in Kharun remaining in Tempe, the Sun Devils will have someone to lean on if the water gets choppy. Kharun had quite the summer as well, taking three medals (five golds, one silver) in both the USA Swimming National Championships and the TYR Pro Swim Series.
After losing multiple NCAA champions, ASU will have to trust some new additions as Tempe becomes a home for 19 new Sun Devils for the upcoming season with five transfers and 14 first-years. Two players finding their new home in Tempe to watch out for are fifth-year Sergio de Celis Montalban and first-year Jake Lloyd.
Montalban, out of Palma, Spain, was a 2024 Paris Olympian and he holds the Spanish national record for men’s 100 free (46.19). The 26-year-old recently competed in the European Short Course Championships last December, taking home bronze as part of the Spain men’s 4×50 freestyle relay team.
As for the youngster, Lloyd enters his first year at ASU after being ranked No. 1 in Ohio and No. 13 in the 2026 class for swimming. The two-time state champion from Dublin, Ohio, won gold at the U-18 final in the men’s 50 butterfly with a 24.12 time, which was also his personal best.
The upcoming season comes with plenty of unfamiliar faces but the expectations remain the same.
In just three short weeks, ASU will start their campaign to continue their dominance under Behm as the waves of the season approach. The men’s and women’s teams are a combined 4-0 in the last two years in their season opener against UNLV, as they hope to keep the undefeated record alive.
As the summertime heat persists in the desert, ASU is ready to cool off and make a big splash yet again.
