Freshman shines as ASU cruises to 183-117 victory against Georgia

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

TEMPE — It’s a tough task to outshine world champion swimmer and ASU sophomore Léon Marchand, but an Arizona State freshman swimmer may have done just that Saturday at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.

En route to the Sun Devil (2-0) men’s 183-117 win over the Georgia Bulldogs (0-2), freshman Ilya Kharun broke the school record for the 100-yard butterfly with a stunning time of 44.88 seconds. Kharun’s record was 0.13 seconds faster than the previous record held by alumni Max McCusker.

“I know that that time is great, but it’s got to get way better,” Kharun said. “I’m not completely happy with it, happy that I got it, but I have to keep improving because I know that there’s people out there that are way faster.”

“He’s got a lot of technical things he can improve on to go faster, which is great,” ASU head coach Bob Bowman added. “He works hard every day and is a tremendous competitor in the meets themselves, so we are very happy he is here.”

Kharun also placed first in the 200 butterfly and played a key role as the butterfly leg for the Sun Devils in the 200 medley relay, in which ASU took first with a time of 1:22.70, just over a second short of the school record.

Despite the overall meet win for the Sun Devils, not every athlete performed their best Saturday. Long course 200 backstroke champion and sophomore Hubert Kós struggled in Saturday’s competition, placing third in the 100 backstroke and second in the 200 backstroke, a race in which he led until the last lap.

“[Kós] has to be better on his underwater,” Bowman said. “That’s where he lost the 200 back, and in the 100, he wasn’t even in the race because of his underwaters. He has to improve that aspect of his swimming, and once he does that, he will be competitive.”

Kós did bounce back in the 200 individual medley, where he placed second just behind Marchand in one of the final races of the day.

Marchand, on the other hand, had another winning day, taking first in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM. However, Marchand wasn’t happy with his times and knows he can do better.

“Today was not that good for me,” Marchand said. “I was far from my best times, but yesterday was decent. …I think I can do better, but it’s a good start.”

Two Sun Devils who also got off to good starts are graduate swimmer Jack Dolan and sophomore Jonny Kulow. The pair spent Saturday’s meet pushing each other to their best. Both swimmers raced almost identically, with Dolan taking first and Kulow coming in second in the 50 freestyle followed by Kulow taking first and Dolan coming in second in the 100 freestyle. Neither was behind the other by more than .3 seconds in either race.

“It’s always fun because it’s a toss-up every single time,” Kulow said about racing his teammate. “It’s a good 50/50 split.”

Expectations are high for the Sun Devils this season after placing second behind California at the NCAA Championships last season. This weekend’s meets against Georgia were a good start for ASU, but Bowman is asking for more from the team if the Devils hope to remain competitive on the national stage.

“It’s hard when we had a good season last year, and everyone tells you how good you are and has these expectations for you, but the reality is that was last year,” Bowman said. “Today is today, and we have to win today and do better.”