ASU men’s swim and dive made history by winning their first NCAA championship in the program's history.
The championship was clinched with a record-breaking 400 freestyle relay by junior Léon Marchand, graduate student Jack Dolan, sophomore Jonny Kulow and junior Patrick Sammon.
"What satisfies me the most is that so many people are a part of it, and, quite frankly, in 2015, when I got here, it was the farthest thing from,” head coach Bob Bowman said before the meet. "So when I was talking about one day we'll compete for a championship, everybody's like, 'Ok, you can't be serious.'"
Marchand did his usual work, adding to his many NCAA records. He beat his own 500 freestyle NCAA record and beat another one of his records in the 200 breaststroke, as well as swimming in the first leg was part of the record-breaking 400 freestyle relay. He was also named All-American first team for the 200 medley relay, the 500 free, and the 200 breaststroke.
"Winning NCAAs would be amazing for the team," Marchand said before the meet. "I’ve won some stuff myself individually, and the first thing I wanted to do was share stuff with my family or my coach or my teammates, and that's what NCAAs is about. If we win, it’s all together."
Dolan broke his school record in the 50 freestyle and was a part of the school record-breaking 200 freestyle relay and achieved All-American first team for the 200 medley relay, the 50 freestyle, and second team for the 100 backstroke.
Standout freshman Ilya Kharun set the school record in the 100 butterfly and won the 200 butterfly. He was also named to the All-American first team for the 200 and 100 butterfly.
Sophomore Zalan Sarkany became a national champion in the 1650 freestyle at 14:30.57. He was named first-team All-American for the 1650 and second-team for his 500 freestyle.
This is the first national championship in program history. Now, many Sun Devils will turn their attention to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Edited by Vinny Deangelis, Walker Smith and Shane Brennan
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Henry is a junior studying journalism and mass communication. This is his third semester with The State Press. He has also worked as a sports reporter.
