(Photo via Hailey Sasnett/WCSN)
Friday afternoon, ASU swim and dive competed in its first meet of the year: the Maroon and Gold Scrimmage. As Thunderstruck blared through the speakers, the Sun devils geared up to compete against one another.
It was a beautiful day in Tempe, but perhaps an even better one for the Sun Devils head coach, Bob Bowman, and his swimmers.
The meet was full of energy from the first event, the 100-meter butterfly, and all the way to the end with the 100-meter individual medley. Although the Sun Devils only competed against themselves, they raised some eyebrows with the impressive times they were able to put on the board.
Overall, the meet was a good start to the year for ASU. The excitement from fans and spectators was evident from start to finish. This season’s squad seems poised and ready to start the season. Based on what they showed Friday, the Sun Devils seem ready to pick up where they left off last year.
The Sun Devils showed off their skills throughout the meet and gave fans a preview of what to expect this year. As an intrasquad competition, the meet followed a different format than typical events. Each athlete competed in five events, with the scores from each event for each swimmer being tallied up at the end to decide a winner.
Some notable performances on the women’s side include sophomore Charli Brown and redshirt junior Lindsay Looney. Both swimmers performed well in Friday’s scrimmage, with Brown placing 1st overall and Looney coming in right behind her at 2nd.
Looney placed first in the 100 fly and 100 free coming in with a time of 52.80 and 49.60, respectively. She also placed third in the 100 IM, clocking in at 56.18. Through all five of her races, Looney placed in the top 10.
For Brown, the 100 IM also went well, as she secured a time of 55.19 and a first-place finish. Brown also placed first in the 100 back with a time of 53.90. Brown, one-upping Looney, placed in the top 5 in all of her races.
On the men’s side, it comes as no surprise that sophomore Léon Marchand came out on top. His first-place finish was helped by his 100 IM time being 46.63 and a 100 breast time of 52.00 on the dot. The only race Marchand didn’t finish first in was the 100 free, in which he finished second.
Graduate student Grant House proved to be someone else to watch out for this year as he came in second. He placed first in the 100 free with a time of 42.19 and placed in the top 3 throughout his other races.
Although only a few individuals placed atop the rest in the meet Friday, many others impressed in the competition. In the men’s 100 breast, three Sun Devils had times under 53 seconds – Marchand (52.00), House (52.80) and redshirt junior David Schlicht (52.91). Several freshmen also placed well, including Evan Nail, who finished 12th overall.
The Sun Devils’ next meet is September 30 and October 1 in Athens, Georgia where they will compete in a tri-meet against Missouri and Georgia.
