Devils trail after day one of NCAA Championships despite solid performance

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

INDIANAPOLIS — On the hunt for its first NCAA title, ASU Men’s Swim and Dive kicked off day one of the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships with races in the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay.

As expected, the Sun Devil men opened the meet with a bang after their record-breaking performance in the 200-yard medley relay at the Pac-12 Championships. The quartet of fifth-year Jack Dolan, junior Léon Marchand, freshman Ilya Kharun and sophomore Jonny Kulow put up a time of 1 minute and 20.55 seconds to match their seed time and take second place only to Florida. Notably, Kulow was the standout for the Devils, as he had the fastest freestyle split among all teams with his time of 17.94 seconds.

The second event of the night was the 800-yard freestyle relay. Marchand, sophomore Hubert Kós, sophomore Patrick Sammon and fifth-year Julian Hill had an outstanding performance in the event, placing second with a time of 6:04.95 and cutting 1.19 seconds off their seed time. Marchand got the Sun Devil relay off to a commanding start, as he touched the wall in 1:28.97. His time set a new NCAA record in the 200-yard freestyle by 0.16 seconds.

The Devils ended the day with a total of 68 points, leaving them in third place. California and Florida are currently tied for first with 70 points. Despite their two-point deficit, the Devils put themselves in great shape for the national title after just one session of racing.