Sun Devils hit their stride in convincing wins over UNLV Rebels

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

In their second meets of the season, both Arizona State’s men’s and women’s swim and dive teams defeated the UNLV Rebels on Friday at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The men’s final score was 229-71 and the women won 230-70.

Junior Léon Marchand and graduate swimmer Jack Dolan stood out for the men’s group. Marchand went undefeated in three individual events including the 200-yard butterfly, 200 backstroke and 400 IM. Dolan also won the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle events.

The women’s team was led by junior Erin Milligan and sophomore Charli Brown. Milligan posted winning times in the 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle. Brown showed out by winning all three of her individual events. She clocked in at 54.20 seconds and 1:58.34 in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke, respectively, while also posting a time of 4:13.56 in the 400 IM. After the meet, Brown highlighted the Sun Devil’s improvement since their last meet against Georgia.

“I think we leveled up today,” Brown said. “I know lots of the groups are still in hard training, but definitely compared to last time we all came together, we made that extra step.”

Both the women’s and men’s swim and dive teams didn’t look strong in their last meets against Georgia. The women’s squad lost both meets, while the men’s group did not perform as well as they’d hoped despite sweeping the Bulldogs. Head coach Bob Bowman was proud of his swimmers’ bounce back performances in Friday’s victories.

“What we really talked about before the meet was we have to swim to our standard all the time, regardless of the conditions, the competition and who’s in the pool,” Bowman said. “We need to swim that standard. We did quite well with that today.”

Bowman was especially pleased with ASU’s performances in relays, as he especially noted his team’s success in those events.

“Our relays were excellent,” Bowman said. “Our women were right off what we swam at Pac-12 (Championships) last year. I’m super happy with that last relay. The women and the men’s were a second off our team relay, which is a very good relay, one of the best in history.”

Arizona State swam to their full potential against UNLV. They recorded elite times, and looked capable of contending in the Pac-12 and NCAA championships this year. The Sun Devils will look to carry their improvement into their next meet against a tough contender in NC State.