(Photo: Casey McNulty/Sun Devil Athletics)
TEMPE– As the sun set at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on Friday, Arizona State swim and dive rose to the triumph of last season’s championship win. Under the leadership of head coach Herbie Behm, the Sun Devils exceeded expectations and proved why they were worthy of a national title.
ASU dominated the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, in its season opener, with both the men’s and women’s teams winning by over 130 points.
The Sun Devil women kicked off the competition with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. Sophomore Miriam Sheehan, senior Iza Adame, freshman Julia Ullmann and graduate student Caroline Bentz produced a stellar performance that broke the school record. They finished the race in 1 minute and 37.05 seconds, just narrowly beating out the previous record from 2019.
The Devils continued their momentum into the distance events, with impressive swims by sophomores Alexa Reyna and Lia Csulak in the 1000-yard freestyle. Reyna touched first with a time of 9:48.95, while Csulak finished in 10:04.83 to earn third.
Senior Charli Brown started her final season with the Sun Devils off strong, as she claimed first in the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley. A big part of Brown’s success at the meet was her trust in her teammates and coaches.
“There’s an individual plan, and I think just learning to trust that early on and building that confidence within ourselves also translates to how [the women’s team] did today,” Brown said.
The Sun Devil men’s performance was just as impressive. They earned a total of 217 points, compared to the Rebels’ 83 points.
The Devils opened with a statement as they swept the top four spots in the first individual event of the night, the 1000-yard freestyle. Senior Dylan Gravely had quite a swim, as he came in second place and achieved a new personal best by almost two seconds.
Sophomore Ilya Kharun carried his strength to Mona Plummer after taking home two bronze medals from the Paris Olympics. He took first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 44:57, just 0.24 seconds away from beating his personal best. Kharun also claimed first in the 200-yard individual medley, an event he does not usually swim, and the 200-yard butterfly. The sophomore expressed his gratitude for the team and how he’s happy to be back in Tempe after an eventful summer.
“I’m really glad to be back with this team,” Kharun said. “I love this team, and every day, we’re just training. I’m going to keep training to get better.”
The men’s team finished the night with a strong performance in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as the quartet of junior Tommy Palmer, senior Patrick Sammon, junior Jonny Kulow and sophomore Quinlan Gould took first place. The powerhouse duo of Kulow and Sammon both contributed to the NCAA record-setting 400-yard freestyle relay in March.
On top of his final relay performance, Sammon had two first-place individual finishes in the 100-and 200-yard freestyle. He also came within seconds of beating his personal bests in both events.
For diving, sophomore Vera Brewer placed second for the Sun Devils in the women’s 1-meter, while sophomore Kayden Hayes secured the win for the Devils in the women’s 3-meter. For the men, junior Lane Stallworth finished third on the 1-meter and fourth on the 3-meter.
After securing his first win at the helm of the ASU swim and dive program, Behm believed the night went well. He appreciated the passion the Devils brought to the meet, but he thinks that there is still room for improvement.
“In general, I thought they raced well,” Behm said. “I think there are still a lot of detail things that we can clean up, but I think the energy that they brought to it, the passion that they brought to it, is the most important thing. They did a really good job with that, so that’s something we can build off of, and that’s everything we can ask for to get started.”
