It was a quick turnaround for the Arizona State women’s swimming and diving team after a commanding win at home on Saturday, but the squad suffered a loss after a quick trip to Salt Lake City on Sunday afternoon. While the women dropped a close one to Utah, 159-137, the men too were defeated by the Utes, 191-105.
Despite the loss, numerous positives for ASU can still be taken from the duals between the two Pac-12 schools. Many Sun Devil swimmers obtained first-place finishes and solid results, showing promise even in a losing effort. Among the top swimmers in the pool Saturday included Tristin Baxter, who continued her dominance in long-distance events. Baxter took first in both the 1000 free with a time of 10:15.71 and the 500 free with a time of 5:00.59. She has consistently paced the field and taken home victories in these events all season long.
Along with Baxter, Thibaut Capitaine also captured two first-place finishes for ASU. In his signature events, Capitaine won the 100 breast and the 200 breast with times of 57.47 and 2:07.03, respectively.
Off the diving board, Riley McCormick once again proved his overwhelming advantage, taking home first-place finishes in both the 1-meter dive, with a score of 349.95, and the 3-meter dive, with a score of 390.45. McCormick destroyed the competition in the 3-meter, winning by over 100 points, while second-place finished with only 279.45 points.
The Sun Devil women found success and took home the top three spots in both the 200 free as well as the 100 back. Juanita Barreto won the 200 free with a mark of 1:52.51, while Melanie Busch garnered first in the 100 back at 57.03.
Jennifer Morgan was the other victorious Sun Devil swimmer on the day, winning the 200 back with a time of 2:02.58.
Arizona State men’s and women’s swimming and diving have just under three weeks off before traveling to Berkeley, Calif. for an in-conference showdown against Cal. The dual will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Network at 1:00 p.m. MT.