Ilya Kharun’s record setting ways set the pace on day two of the Big 12 Championships

(Photo: Courtesy of Kara Durrette/Big 12 Conference)

The second day of the Big 12 Swim and Dive Championships continued to be a showcase for Arizona State. Wednesday saw the Sun Devils improve their lead at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina and have positioned themselves not only to hoist another Big 12 championship, but to have multiple swimmers representing the team at the NCAA championships.

The No. 17 women’s team ended day two with 521.5 points, jumping ahead of their in-state rival Arizona (423) for first place. The No. 2 men’s team added to its impressive lead, finishing the second day with 618 points. 

The Sun Devils’ swimming program has received national recognition for its sprinters in the pool. The preliminary race for the men’s 50-yard freestyle confirmed how special the team is, with the first six to the touch wall representing ASU. Junior Ilya Kharun not only won the race but also set a meet record with a time of 18.47 seconds.

Arizona freshman Duncan Henderson was in mixed company as the only swimmer competing against the seven ASU finalists. The meet-record Kharun set earlier in the day was gone, and Henderson didn’t stand a chance against the Sun Devils as Kharun finished 0.01 seconds faster for the Big 12 championship. Graduate Remi Fabiani (18.68) and graduate Adam Chaney (18.81) joined Kharun on the podium. 

“We have such a strong group of guys,”  Kharun said. “We almost had eight, but it’s alright. Maybe next year we’ll have eight.”

Freshman Albane Cachot is new to the ASU women’s team, but she has quickly made a name for herself. After joining the team this year, Cachot hasn’t become familiar with the idea of being left off the podium. Every race she’s swum in, she’s placed in the top three. In the women’s 50-yard freestyle, she continued her success, winning with a time of 21.80.

The Sun Devils stacked the lanes in the women’s 200-yard individual medley, with over half of the pool in maroon and gold. The Sun Devils swept the individual medley two seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher. Junior Sonia Vaishnani came in first at 1:57.16, sophomore Jordan Greber was 0.2 seconds behind her teammate and sophomore Julia Ullmann touched the wall 0.04 seconds after for third place.

The men’s 200-yard individual medley started with ASU in the lead, but Utah came from behind in the last 25 yards to take the race. Utah senior Evan VanBrocklin was ahead of ASU junior JT Ewing and ASU graduate Jordan Tiffany in the first 100 yards. In the next 25 yards, Tiffany swam the breaststroke and had the best split. It didn’t end up mattering, though, as VanBrocklin came back in the final freestyle stroke, leaving Ewing and Tiffany with second and third place.

The women’s distance race was nearly swept by the Sun Devils. Senior Deniz Ertan and junior Alexa Reyna finished atop the 500-yard freestyle, and junior Grace Lindberg came in fourth place. In the morning’s preliminary race, Ertan and Reyna finished behind Kansas sophomore Gabi Dyer, but the training partners saved their best race for the championship round to take the Big 12 title.

Times and scores matter most this week. Every second counts. Every point counts. 

Failing to make the championship round isn’t the end of a swimmer’s season, though. If a swimmer makes the NCAA qualifying time, they still advance to the NCAA Championships despite their position in the standings.

The second heat of the men’s 500-meter freestyle exemplified that. Freshman Mattia Mauri didn’t make the final round with Grady and freshman Noah Mudadu, but swam well under the NCAA qualifying time and won his heat at 4:17.13. Maiur now has a chance for redemption as he’s earned a lane at the NCAA Men’s Swimming Championships. The NCAA Men’s Swimming Championships are ​​March 25-28 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta.

ASU did not have a participant in the finals of the women’s 1-meter diving. Junior Kayden Hayes came into the event as the No. 4 seed in the competition, but fell to No. 23 with a score of 229.55 points. The finals for the men’s 3-meter diving had two Sun Devils who didn’t fare well either. Senior Lane Stallworth scored 289.20 points to finish No. 13, and senior Caleb Liban came in No. 15 with 276.05 points.

Day three of the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship begins Thursday at 8:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, with the day’s finals starting at 3:00.

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