(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)
INDIANAPOLIS — After three thrilling days of competition in Indianapolis, ASU Men’s Swim and Dive entered the final day of the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships with a 56.5-point lead over second place. All they had to do was finish strong, and they could claim ASU’s first-ever swim and dive national title.
The final day of the competition saw races in the 1650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Sophomore Zalán Sarkany was the only Sun Devil in the final heat of the longest event of the meet, the 1650-yard freestyle. He entered the event as the number one seed, 12 seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer. At this point of the meet, junior Léon Marchand was the Devils’ only individual national champion, but Sarkany was on a mission to stand atop the podium himself.
He took the lead right from the start of the race, and he continued to build on it each lap. After 14 minutes and 30.57 seconds of racing, Sarkany became ASU’s second individual national champion and got the team’s momentum going for the night.
“It’s a pleasure to finally be able to contribute to the team for this meet,” Sarkany said. “It wasn’t the best meet I’ve had so far. The 500 (free) and 400 IM were interesting, but I’m glad that I could win (the 1650), even with not a great time. I’m happy with it.”
Sophomores Hubert Kós and Owen McDonald represented the Devils in the 200-yard backstroke final. Kós came into the event as the reigning NCAA record holder, but his record did not withstand the speed of California senior Destin Lasco, who broke Kós’s record and was crowned the national champion.
Kós remained in contention for the title the entire race, but he ran out of time to try and take the win. He became the national runner-up with his time of 1:35.90. McDonald swam out of lane one for the backstroke final, and he stayed with the leaders for most of the race, earning him third place.
Fifth-year Jack Dolan barely squeezed into the championship final in the 100-yard freestyle, taking the eighth and final spot. Dolan’s swim proved that earning a lane, earns you a chance, as his time of 41.50 earned him seventh place, which was slightly better than his preliminary seed.
Sophomore Jonny Kulow swam in the consolation final for the Devils. After his insane freestyle split on Friday in the 400-yard medley relay, it was evident Kulow had speed. In an extremely close heat, Kulow took 13th overall and narrowly missed out on the best time of the heat.
ASU was heavily represented in the 200-yard breaststroke as senior David Schlicht, Marchand, and sophomore Cale Martter put up solid times during the preliminary session to earn them a lane in the finals. Schlicht had performed well all meet, and after earning second place in the 400-yard individual medley on Friday, the senior was looking to continue his hot streak. Schlicht battled hard with the field and placed fifth for his third individual podium finish of NCAA championships.
Marchand entered the event as the NCAA record holder, and it was no surprise when he happened to be on record pace after four laps of the race. Marchand posted a 1:46.35 to break his own NCAA record and become a national champion in the event for the third year in a row, despite not feeling his best in the water. Martter also scored some points for the Devils in the event’s consolation final and earned 13th overall.
“I didn’t feel really fast during the race,” Marchand said. “It was not the best feeling, but I tried really hard to do my turns pretty well and do my underwaters pretty decent too and try to go for it from the very beginning too. 1:46 is really good. I’m really happy with it.”
The final individual event of the meet was the 200-yard butterfly. Freshman Ilya Kharun was fresh off his fifth-place finish and new personal best time in the 100-yard butterfly on Friday, so it was no surprise that he came into Saturday’s championship final as the second seed. He showed lots of easy speed in his preliminary swim and continued that momentum into the final.
The freshman started out fast but faded slightly near the 150-yard mark. Remarkably, Kharun bounced back on the final lap to get his hands on the wall first and become ASU’s third individual national champion of the night. Fifth-year Alex Colson represented the Devils in the consolation final of the event. Colson put up a solid time to take tenth.
Marchand, Dolan, junior Patrick Sammon and Kulow stepped up to the blocks for the 400-yard freestyle relay in hopes of closing out the meet for the Devils with a win. The Devils started the relay with Marchand, who threw down a monster 40.28 split to put ASU ahead of the rest of the field. Dolan held the lead throughout his leg of the race, and so did Sammon.
It all came down to Kulow, just like Friday’s 400-yard medley relay. It was evident that Kulow was no stranger to high-pressure moments because his anchor leg secured ASU’s second national relay title in history. The Devils’ time of 2:43.40 also set an NCAA record and all but solidified ASU’s status as national champions.
“When I first came in, (the national title) was definitely in the back of our minds, and we knew we definitely had a shot,” Sammon said. “My first year, we ended up getting sixth, and then next year second, and then obviously winning this year. It’s just been great to see the program grow over these past few years.”
The Devils won the national championship title after racking up 523.5 points. Their performance during the final session of the meet was remarkable, as they won four of the six events of the night and broke two NCAA records in the process.
It has been a long journey for the Devils to earn their national championship moment. From the men’s team being cut in 2008 to obtaining the national title in 2024, the Devils have had quite the journey to get where they are today. With their performance in Indianapolis, the Devils reached the top of the mountain despite years of an uphill battle.
“It’s unbelievable, really,” head coach Bob Bowman said. “I’m just incredibly grateful for all the people who just believed when there was nothing to believe in, except when it was just me telling them maybe one day we can just do it. There were a lot of mistakes made and a lot of good times, a lot of sad times and frustration, but through it all everybody just kept growing.”
