Junior Lori Layne Kremer competes during the Women's 200 Meter race against Denver. ASU is now preparing for its first invitationals of the season thus far. (Photo by Diana Lustig)As the ASU swim and dive teams' semester comes to a close, the time approaches for the first invitational tournament of the year.
The swim team will be attending an invitational hosted by UNLV featuring a number of Pac-12 teams and top national competitors, making this their first big meet of the season. This will also be the last regular season meet excluding U.S. Nationals in early December.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a competition that mimics what happens at the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships,” coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said.
Invitationals are longer meets than duals and, while they take place over several days, also have a primary qualification race before the swimmers have the ability to swim in the finals.
“It gives the freshmen the opportunity to experience this type of format,” Tierney-Walker said. “It also gives us an idea of how people respond on back-to-back days of racing.”
Coach Dan Kesler said this invitational is also a good indicator and practice for the athletes that will be heading onto U.S. Nationals soon.
He said the swimmers are working on a mindset that the upcoming meet requires the same intensity, it's just a little longer.
A big meet can add a lot of pressure to athletes, but junior Melanie Busch said she is confident in her team, especially as the swimmers look to bounce back from a disappointing outing at the last meet.
“Everyone’s been swimming very well and been getting better each meet,” Busch said. “It’s our first big invite as a team together, so it should be fun.”
Meanwhile the divers have a difficult weekend in their own right as they prepare to head to the University of Texas at Austin for a dive-only invitational, their last meet of the semester as well.
After a dominant semester, the dive team may finally have a challenge as top competitors from Texas, Miami and Hawaii all look to take on ASU junior Olympian Riley McCormick and the rest of the talented squad.
“It’s not a big invitational, but there will be a lot of quality divers, so it will be a challenge for us,” coach Mark Bradshaw said. “It’s our last meet of the semester, so we’ve been pointing towards this one.”
Invitationals also offer platform competition, an event not offered in duals, giving Sun Devil sophomore diver Sydney Czaus an opportunity to compete in her event.
Sophomore Hunter Atha will also be competing in the platform event for the men.
Bradshaw’s said he is pleased with what he has seen from the team so far, and is looking forward to this weekend's contest.
“We’re diving great,” Bradshaw said. “Overall, it’s probably the best I’ve seen out of a group of mine this early.”
Reach the reporter at nolan.kwit@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @NolanKwit
