Sun Devil Women Ready To Push For Success At NCAA Championships

(Photo: Casey McNulty/Sun Devil Athletics)

One word defined ASU women’s swim and dive this season: breakthroughs. The Sun Devils regularly broke records, set personal bests and achieved new accolades during the 2024-25 season. They combined individual and relay success to formulate a new team spirit, channeling collaboration and community to establish unwavering resilience.

ASU’s most recent victory was the women’s first Big 12 title in program history. Now, the Sun Devils will maximize momentum and accumulate ambition to perform on the grandest stage of the season, the NCAA Championships.

With 12 women qualified for NCAAs, the Devils will aim for national success. To accomplish that goal, they will need to utilize graduate student Caroline Bentz to pass their final test. Most recently, Bentz earned seven conference titles at the Big 12 Championships and the Big 12 Women’s Swimmer of the Meet award. She claimed gold in all of her individual events, which were the 50-yard freestyle and the 100- and 200-yard backstroke. Bentz also contributed to first-place finishes in the 400-yard freestyle relay, 200- and 400-yard medley relay and a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

In her first season with ASU as a transfer student, Bentz delivered show-stopping performances with every dive into the water. The graduate student set new school records in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and 100- and 200-yard backstroke events. She also contributed to new school records in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 200- and 400-yard medley relay. Consistently displaying individual prowess and relay reliability, Bentz rewrote history and cemented her legacy as a Sun Devil great.

On a national scale, Bentz holds top-20 times in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke. In order to place, the graduate will need to dive into the competition with the speed she has demonstrated all season to surpass her opponents on the leaderboard.

Junior Deniz Ertan is another prominent swimmer for the Sun Devils and has headlined the team in the distance events. Ertan earned gold in the 1650-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly at the Big 12 Championships.

The junior is currently seeded 21st in the 1650-yard freestyle, 19th in the 1000-yard freestyle and 29th in the 200-yard butterfly. Although Ertan trails the nation’s best, she consistently delivers multidimensional strength between strokes and distances in the pool. The junior will utilize the determination and endurance displayed throughout this season to place among the nation’s best.

Another notable weapon in the Devils’ arsenal is freshman Julia Ullmann. At the Big 12 Championships, Ullmann achieved a podium finish in every race she swam. The freshman claimed bronze in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and gold in the 100-yard butterfly. Carrying her rigor into the relay events, Ullmann swam alongside Bentz in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay and 200- and 400-yard medley relay. Not only did Ullmann emerge as a four-time Big 12 champion, but she also earned the title of Big 12 Women’s Freshman Swimmer of the Meet, establishing dominance in her first collegiate conference championship.

The freshman also broke the school record in the 100-yard butterfly this season and contributed to new school records in the 200-yard freestyle relay and 200- and 400-yard medley relay.

On a national scale, Ullmann trails her competitors but holds some of the best times in the country. She is currently seeded among the top 25 in the 50- and 100-yard butterfly and contributed to ASU’s top-20 times in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay and 200- and 400-yard medley relay. After a slew of dominant swims, Ullmann laid a firm foundation for her career as a Sun Devil and looks to conclude her debut season with impressive swims at NCAAs.

Senior Charli Brown is another standout for the Sun Devil Women. Most recently, Brown finished as a three-time Big 12 Champion in the 200-yard individual medley and 400- and 800-yard freestyle relay. She also claimed second place in the 400-yard individual medley.

Brown is currently seeded 22nd in the 400-yard individual medley, as she sits among the country’s best. She also contributed to ASU’s top-20 performance in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Brown’s combination of individual and relay strength and her range in the pool will be crucial to ASU’s goal of success.

Every high and low Arizona State swim and dive faced this season prepared the Devils for this moment. Between wins, losses, conference titles and setbacks, they achieved a balance as a team that continuously propelled them forward. As the Sun Devil women prepare to face the nation’s best, they will look to combine the values that have guided them thus far and tackle the season’s climax with grit and focus. Breakthroughs defined ASU’s season until now, but a new word will define its final test: culmination.