(Photo: Anthony Ocampo Paramo/WCSN)
TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State jumped into the 2026 season with authority, beating UNLV in Friday night’s season opener at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
The No. 6 men’s team won 245-55 and the No. 18 women’s team won 231-68. The tone was set in the first event when fifth-year Nick Simons, first-year Oliver Munn, fourth-year Ilya Kharun and third-year Tolu Young broke the Mona Plummer pool record in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:21.73.
“Hearing, ‘That’s a pool record for the squad’, it was shocking,” Simons said. “Knowing all the great swimmers that have come through this program and have put together some amazing swims in this pool … it was amazing to start off the season with that type of bang.”
Simons, a four-time All-American transfer from Tennessee, was granted a fifth year of eligibility following the NCAA eligibility rule change. He described competing as a Sun Devil as a dream come true.
“I’ve always seen the energy and passion the Sun Devils have for swimming and you see it, there’s a 2024 National Championship and eight national championships on the women’s side,” Simons said. “This is a school with a huge championship pedigree. … I’ve never had more fun on the pool, the pool deck, overall as a swimmer for the past five weeks training here, and I cannot wait to continue the rest of the season.”
He led off ASU’s record-setting medley relay with his signature backstroke. Despite a slip up in his start, he recovered to put the Sun Devils in front and ASU never surrendered the lead.
Simons returned to win the 100-yard backstroke in 45.81 seconds, touching the wall ahead of fellow newcomers Nathan Muratory (46.52) and Parker Deshayes (46.63). Second-year Sun Devil Jack Troy finished fourth (46.98), giving ASU the top four spots.
“The energy and passion that [Simons] has is truly unmatched,” head coach Herbie Behm said. “It’s great to have him as a newcomer, but with a lot of experience, with everyone else in the backstroke event as freshmen.”
Muratory followed with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in 1:41.11 and reaching the NCAA qualifying standard in his collegiate debut.
“Every day I leave practice with a smile on my face,” Simons said. “Being able to train with men of that caliber—they’re only 18 years old, but they’re fantastic young competitors. I like to say, ‘iron sharpens iron’. I’ve never seen iron sharpen more iron than here at ASU.
“To be able to train next to that day after day is going to make me a better swimmer and them better swimmers.”
Simons said the depth gives him confidence that if he doesn’t win an event, one of his teammates will.
That depth extended throughout a roster bolstered by 30 newcomers this offseason. Behm was encouraged by the first-year swimmers’ performances after ASU lost a talented senior class from last season.
“That was probably the most talented senior class we’ve ever had and then [the first-year swimmers] filled right in,” Behm said. “I’m super enthusiastic to see what they can do because this is their first college meet ever.
“They have a lot of growth to continue.”
The newcomers were not the only Sun Devils making an early-season statement.
Kharun added individual victories in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly after helping ASU break the pool record in the opening relay. The fourth-year Sun Devil enters the season as the defending NCAA champion in the 200-yard butterfly.
ASU closed the meet by taking the top three spots in the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay. Young, first-year Jake Lloyd, first-year Kristupas Trepocka and Kharun won in 2:48.64, the fourth-fastest time in pool history, while ASU’s B relay finished just 1.82 seconds behind.
The Sun Devil women produced several standout performances of their own. Second-year Albane Cachot broke the ASU record in the 100-yard freestyle (47.23), while also winning the 50-yard freestyle (22.03). She opened this season with four victories after also swimming on ASU’s winning 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Third-year Julia Ullmann and fourth-year Miriam Sheehan also hit early-season benchmarks, reaching the NCAA qualifying standard in the 100-yard butterfly, while third-year Jordan Greber did the same in the 200-yard individual medley. First-year Alyssa Albertyn won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:45.92 — the sixth-fastest in ASU history — before adding a victory in the 200-yard backstroke (1:55.20) in her collegiate debut.
The meet provided an early look for Behm at his new-look roster.
“Now we have a benchmark, and now figuring out how to raise that,” Behm said. “We just have to keep getting better and better. … It’s good that we set the bar high. That’s how we want it to be. … Now we have to analyze this and figure out areas we can improve and keep going.”
The Sun Devils return to practice next week before heading to the SMU Classic on Friday, where they will face some of the top competition in the country. While many of ASU’s top swimmers will compete at SMU, the rest of the team will compete simultaneously at Northern Arizona, giving younger swimmers another opportunity to develop.
“I think that will be a really good challenge,” Behm said. “A lot of our top people will be at SMU and then the people who haven’t had that type of pressure without the support of their more experienced teammates, will be a really good thing for their development.”
