The ASU men's and women's swim teams were defeated by a superior opponent in defending Pac-12 champion USC, falling by a combined 92 points to the Trojans at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center Friday.
However, it was an opportunity to learn and emulate a successful program, something head coach Bob Bowman emphasized in his comments to the media Friday.
The men's swim team started the meet off with a win succeeding in the 200-yard medley relay by a margin of just 35 tenths of a second. Patrick Park anchored the relay and would go on to win every event he participated in.
"For the men's team, we really gave them a meet," Bowman said. "USC is one of the best teams in the country. This is really something ASU has not done in a while – compete with the top teams around. Our distance swimmers can learn a lot about pacing from USC as well as the other little things that win races."
The women's side did not earn first place in an event until Alysha Bush took first place in the 50-yard freestyle. Her score of 23.13 seconds today was the fastest score of the season beating her previous top score by six hundredths of a second.
That victory was the only one during the first half of the meet.
The ASU men's swimming team earned victories in the 200-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle.
Patrick Park enjoyed a dominant victory in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:46.15, putting him 1.8 seconds under the B-cut and establishing his time as ASU's best thus far this season.
"I treated it like a showcase, it was a great opportunity to race against USC, the defending Pac-12 champions," he said. "We are feeling very optimistic after this swim meet because of how well we performed today."
Barkley Perry came in as a close second in the 200 yard freestyle just behind USC All-American Reed Malone.
Perry was victorious later on winning the 200-yard backstroke with an ASU season's best time of 1:47.23.
"I had so much fun today, which is when I do best," Perry said. "I treat every race like it is my last no matter the opponent. I put a lot of work into my transitions, turns and underwater strokes."
After the first half, the ASU men's team trailed by just 11 points, but the women's swim competition was out of reach. The Sun Devils trailed by 54 points after the first fourteen events.
During the break, the ASU women's dive team was led by Mara Aiacoboae, who won the one meter dive for the Sun Devils.
The ASU men's dive team earned second place in the three-meter dive.
Coming out of the break, the Sun Devil men were well within reach of nabbing first place. Park won first place in the 100-yard freestyle in the first event coming after the intermission.
Perry then won his 200-yard backstroke after Park's win, but USC stormed back to win the next three events.
In the 24th event, the 500-yard freestyle, USC placed first, second and third, a clean sweep that clinched a victory for the visiting Trojans.
Looking ahead, the ASU women's swim and dive teams take on UCLA in another Pac-12 showdown, while the ASU men's swim and dive teams race against Air Force Saturday, Nov. 7 at 12 p.m. at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
Reach the reporter at gpaulsoccer@yahoo.com or follow @GrahamASUpress on Twitter.
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