(Photo: Addie Russ/WCSN)
The principles for the Arizona State swim and dive team are “be honest, compete and learn”. They’re written those words outside of the locker room for the swimmers to see before getting into the water. The board also features a daily quote from a philosopher. Last week, the Sun Devils took inspiration from Marcus Aurelius’ book Meditations: “You have to assemble your life yourself – action by action”.
“It’s the connection to life,” head coach Herbie Behm said. “It’s just trying to encourage them to be diligent on every action that they’re taking each moment.”
The moment for action and to compete is here as the ASU swim and dive team faces UNLV on Oct. 2 at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
Last year, the Sun Devils opened the season against UNLV before the largest crowd in college swimming. The Sun Devils also outscored the Rebels in their annual season-opening meet. The women’s team handily defeated the Rebels 242-57 while the men’s team won its dual meet 236-60.
The Nos. 6 and 18 men’s and women’s teams will vie to extend their winning streak against a team that lost three swimmers who qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Rachel Wigginton was the Rebels’ only women’s qualifier in the 200-yard butterfly. Wigginton finished 32nd in the event in her first year with the Rebels, and transferred to the University of Toronto. In last year’s dual meet, Wigginton placed third behind Deniz Ertan and Eleaunah Phillips. Now that Ertan has graduated and Wigginton is back in her home country, third-year Lauren Palacios will face off against second-year Phillips.
UNLV second-year Maria Fernanda Mendez Guerra was the other third-place swimmer for the Rebels last year in the women’s 50-yard freestyle, a race where the top three finishing times were 0.02 seconds apart from each other. Third-year Julia Ullmann touched the wall before Mendez Guerra at 22.82, limiting her to three points.
Bryson Huey finished his collegiate swimming career for UNLV last season at the men’s NCAA Championships 32nd in the men’s 50-yard freestyle. The Rebels will have tough competition in the water trying to replace Huey, who graduated after breaking the school’s decade-long record in the 50-free with a time of 19.02. Huey also anchored both relay teams for the Rebels.
Third-year Tolu Young will be one of many Sun Devils with a top time in the 50-free. His 18.76 is the sixth-fastest in school history. Along with swimming in the 50 free at last year’s NCAA Championships, the Olympian representing Fiji competed in the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.
Another record holder for the Rebels who graduated from the program is Ian Belflower, who broke a 35-year-old record in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:43.45 and swam at the NCAA Championships in 1:43.62. Fourth-year Sun Devil Ilya Kharun, who has a multitude of record times, national championships and two bronze medals, added another national championship by swimming a record time of 1:20.07.
The competition for the Rebels will be tough and that’s because Behm has made his team compete harder against themselves so that meet days aren’t as rigorous as practice. The Sun Devils held an intrasquad meet last week, where the team comprising 30 swimmers new to the program — 19 men and 11 women — ousted the 24 returners. The informal meet gave Behm and the coaching staff an opportunity to evaluate the internal competition and remind his team of more philosophical ideals.
“I think that’s the most important thing,” Behm said. “It’s going back to the economics of Adam Smith, individual ambition serves the common good, and that’s what we try and create here where it’s every day something competitive, where they’re having to raise the bar on one another.”
The dual meet starts at 6:00 p.m. MST.
