A week after the ASU women had a few record-setting results, the men's swimming team improved upon that performance with six of its own record-breaking performances and a fifth-place finish.
On Friday in Federal Way, Washington, ASU set school records in the 400 medley relay, 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.
The relay team consisted of sophomores Richard Bohus, Tadas Duskinas, Barkley Perry, and junior Thibaut Capitaine. The four swimmers set a school record in the event with a time of 3:09.71, which was also good enough for the first of a few fifth place finishes for ASU relay teams in the Pac-12s.
Duskinas also broke the school record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 46.10 in the preliminary round. In the final, he placed fourth with a time of 46.21.
The third and final school record broken on a historic day was in the 100 breaststroke. However, there were two competitive ASU swimmers in the final round.
Capitaine, who originally held the record with a 53.59 time, ousted his previous best and placed seventh in the final round with a time of 53.21.
Freshman Christian Lorenz, who placed eighth in the same event, propelled himself to No. 2 in the record books when he clocked in at 53.39—if not for Capitaine's new time, Lorenz's performance would have been good enough to make him the school's record-holder in the event.
Capitaine added to his success in the 200 breaststroke, where he placed first in the preliminary round with a time of 1:55.69. In the final round, he broke the school record with his time of 1:55.07, which was good enough for sixth place.
The solid performances continued.
Perry set a school record with his time of 1:42.50 in the preliminary round of the 200 backstroke. He finished seventh in the final round of the event with a 1:43.09.
The ASU men's 200 medley relay team added to the success when it broke another school record.
ASU's "A" relay team (Bohus, Duskinas, Capitaine and freshman Patrick Park) swam a 1:25.72 to place fifth in the event. The Sun Devils touched the pad just .55 seconds behind rival Arizona.
However, the mark is solid considering the four teams that placed ahead of ASU are high-caliber programs—Cal, USC, Stanford and Arizona are all ranked in the CSCAA Top-25.
ASU's "A" team for the 200 freestyle relay was composed of Bohus, Duskinas, Park and sophomore Thomaz Martins. The team clocked in at 1:18.45 for another fifth place relay finish and 28 more points for the Sun Devils.
In his last Pac-12 Championships, senior captain Zac Dalby placed 15th in the final round of the 200 individual medley. His time of 1:47.49 was the fourth-best in school history, as well.
A common theme throughout the Pac-12 Championships was ASU swimming showcasing its young talent.
Bohus and Duskinas both placed and competed in the final round of the 50 freestyle, becoming the first pair of Sun Devils to race together in an event final.
The two placed 12th and 15th with times of 19.90 and 19.99, respectively.
USC won its first Pac-12 Championship in swimming since 1979, which marks the first school other than Stanford or Cal to win the conference title in 36 years.
The ASU men's and women's diving team will compete at NCAA Zone E Diving Championships from March 9-11 while other select members of the team await the NCAA Championships in late March.
Pac-12 Championships Final Results:
1. USC – 818.5
2. Stanford – 809.5
3. California – 673
4. Arizona – 508
5. ASU – 309
6. Utah – 283
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or follow @justintoscano3 on Twitter.
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