The ASU men’s swim team may have been in its own pool with the crowd on its side, but nothing could have helped the Sun Devils avoid a loss to Air Force over the weekend.
The Falcons (7-1, 0-1 Mountain West) easily defeated the Sun Devils (0-2) 163.5-93 Friday at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
ASU’s roster features 15 freshmen and the youth certainly showed as Air Force won 13 of the meet’s 14 events.
State Press Television By Derek Trebesch
“There were parts where the team as a whole could have been tougher,” ASU freshman Hayden Thomas said. “With such a young team, it’s [about] trying to get up and learn how to race.”
Thomas was responsible for ASU’s lone win as he won the 500-meter freestyle in 4:41.21.
“It was really exciting,” Thomas said of his first win. “I just went out and got after it.”
Thomas also finished second in the 1,000-meter freestyle with a time of 9:40.78.
The team struggled throughout the meet, but ASU coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker felt the team swam better as the meet progressed. Tierney-Walker also said this meet was an improvement over the last time it competed.
“I think our race execution is a little bit better,” Tierney-Walker said. “We still have a long way to go. We need to continue to focus on some of the basic elements of fast swimming.”
The swim team certainly struggled, but the ASU dive team added a bright spot to the weekend as they came away with a victory over Hawaii on Friday to open the diving season.
“It went really well,” ASU diving coach Mark Bradshaw said of the meet.
Every Sun Devil scored high enough to qualify for the zone meet and several Sun Devils posted personal best scores.
Senior Chris Pasanella scored a personal best 351.05 on the three-meter, an event in which he finished third behind teammates junior Constantin Blaha and sophomore Riley McCormick.
Junior Cameron Bradshaw won the one-meter with a personal best 386.65, while McCormick and Blaha took second and third, respectively.
The women’s dive team did not fare quite as well as the men, but still had a good showing.
Junior Elina Eggers won the one-meter with a score of 302.5.
The results and final scores may have been favorable for the Sun Devils, but coach Bradshaw knows he did not see his team’s best performance in Hawaii.
“We are definitely better,” Bradshaw said. “But it is our first meet of the year and we have some things to work on.”
Both the swim and dive teams have things to work on before conference play begins next week. The results may have been different, but the coaches of both the swim and the dive teams liked what they saw over the weekend and know where their teams need improvement.
The Sun Devils return to the pool next weekend when they travel to Los Angeles to take on Southern California and UCLA. The meets will feature both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
