Sun Devils Place Sixth At NCAA Championships

(Photo: Casey McNulty/Sun Devil Athletics)

Closing out the 2025 NCAA Championships, Arizona State walked away with a sixth-place finish overall and multiple record-breaking performances.

To start the final session, senior Daniel Matheson took tenth place for the Sun Devils in the 1650-yard freestyle. Matheson dropped 7.33 seconds off his previous time to establish a new personal best of 14 minutes and 35.58 seconds and earn second-team All-American honors. Former Sun Devil junior Zalan Sarkany, who now swims for Indiana, placed first in the 1650-yard freestyle for the second year in a row.

Arizona State senior Patrick Sammon geared up to swim the final individual race of his collegiate career in the 100-yard freestyle “B” final. Sammon placed third in his heat, with an eleventh-place finish overall. Junior Jonny Kulow represented ASU in the championship final of the event. Kulow dove off the blocks, staying with the field during the first 50 yards. With the nature of speed in this event, all the swimmers in the pool were neck and neck with each other. While all the finishes were close, Kulow finished in sixth place behind senior Chris Guiliano of Texas. Both Sammon and Kulow earned All-American honors in the event.

The biggest individual race of the night for the Sun Devils was the 200-yard butterfly. Sophomore Ilya Kharun, who was the 200-yard butterfly NCAA champion in 2024, was seeded in second place after prelims Saturday morning. Kharun went out in the finals, staying steady with fifth-year Gianluca Urlando of Georgia. Kharun attempted to close the gap, but Urlando gained a full body-length lead. Kharun finished in third place behind California fifth-year Dare Rose.

The meet closed out with the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Sun Devils had the quartet of Kharun, junior Tommy Palmer, Sammon and Kulow, who clocked a time of 2:43.22. Kharun came out strong as the leadoff leg for ASU. When Kharun touched, Sammon dove into the water, dedicated to pulling his squad up in the ranks. Palmer managed to hang behind the Tennessee relay, which was in first place in the entire race. It all came down to Kulow on the anchor leg. The junior split a blistering 18.79 on the first 50 and brought it home in 21.14 to swim his first 100-yard freestyle under 40 seconds. Kulow’s 39.93 split helped the Devils to a second-place finish in the event and a new Big 12 and school record.

While the Sun Devils did not repeat as national champions, the team has had a notably successful season with multiple podium finishes at NCAAs and its first-ever Big 12 conference title.