(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)
On Sunday, Arizona State Swim and Dive returned to the pool for its final meet of the season. Following wins over No. 2/No. 11 Cal on Jan. 21, the Sun Devils looked ready to close out the regular season against their rival No. 19/NR Arizona.
The Sun Devils came out on top of the Wildcats with a win from both the men’s and women’s teams. Not only did the Sun Devils win every event, but it was also their largest margin of victory over Arizona since 1998. The women’s team took down the Wildcats 211.5-88.5, and the men’s team finished with a 223-58 win.
Sophomore Léon Marchand broke yet another school record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 7.81 seconds. In addition, to his record-breaking race, his 200 medley relay placed first, finishing in 1:22.98. He also got wins in the 100 backstroke (44.77) and the 400 freestyle relay (2:48.00) to conclude the meet.
Marchand wasn’t the only Sun Devil breaking records on Sunday. Freshman Zalan Sarkany broke his own school record in the 1000 freestyle record, beating his freshman teammate Jake Mason, by more than 11 seconds and with a finishing time of 8:49.31.
Additionally, graduate student Grant House helped the Sun Devils pull further ahead by winning the 200 free with a time of 1:31.62.
On the other side, Sunday saw the women’s team earn its second straight win of the season. The Sun Devils finished off their regular season looking better than ever.
Senior Lindsay Looney claimed a victory in the 200 freestyle, with her teammate and redshirt junior Molly Batchelor swimming into second place right behind her. Batchelor was considered a standout performer by associate head coach Rachel Stratton-Mills after her performance Sunday.
“Molly Batchelor was outstanding, and she was a transfer from Arizona, so I think there’s a lot of heart behind it,” said Mills.” She stepped up and won the 50 and the 500. She’s been tremendous, and it has been really fun to see her shine this season”.
The men’s team ends their successful season with a 7-1 record (3-0 Pac-12), and the Women’s team finishes at 3-7 (2-3 Pac-12).
Both teams will compete at the Pac-12 Championships in February and March. Although the Sun Devils’ regular season is over, Stratton-Mills still has a few things she would like the team to accomplish.
“I think every year we want to be better than we were the year before, which means moving up in terms of our placement in [Pac-12 Championships]. I really want to see us have more qualifiers in [NCAA Championships] than ever before. We already have that at mid-season, and I want to keep having that.”
