By Jordan Parry, ASU Media Relations Student Assistant
SEATTLE/PULLMAN, Wash. -- On a night where the Arizona State men (1-2) and women’s (0-3) swim teams competed in different cities, their fates differered. While the ASU men overcame Seattle University by a score of 118-84 from Seattle, the women fell 155.5-106.5 to Washington State in Pullman.
Grand Canyon University also competed in the men's events, but were not scored against Arizona State.
After coming into the meet winning all four relay races, the ASU men (3:21.90) made it 5-5, beating Seattle by almost seven seconds with a team of sophomore Thomaz Martins, junior Thibaut Capitaine, and sophomores Tadas Duskinas and Barkley Perry.
In the 1000-yard freestyle, freshman distance swimmer Juhan Hong (9:41.72) demolished his competitors and touched in first-place by over 20 seconds. Hong then took first in the 500-yard freestyle (4:45.13).
Though Hong specializes in distance, ASU associate head coach Greg Earhart had some different plans for Hong and the team Friday night. Hong also swam in the 200-yard freestyle, where he finished fifth (1:46.75).
“We put guys in difficult positions tonight and some guys, like Juhan in in the 200 free and Zac (Dalby) in the 500 free and 100 breast double displayed the kind of heart we’re looking to bring out of the whole team,” said Earhart.
Dalby, a senior, specializes in the butterfly and IM. He finished first in the 400-yard IM (4:06.76), but competed outside his comfort zone in the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke, impressing the coaching staff in doing so.
However, not all performances impressed Earhart.
“We swam really selfishly the first half of the meet,” said Earhart. “We took for granted that the other teams would just roll over and it cost us.
“The second half of the meet was a completely different script. We showed signs of what we can become.”
Another good sign for the men came from freshman Patrick Park, who continues to win races. On Friday, he won the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.22) and the 100-yard freestyle (49.77).
Meanwhile, on the women’s side, after being crowned champion of the FINA Open Water 10K World Cup in Hong Kong just six days ago, sophomore Anna Olasz again found herself finishing victorious in the pool Friday night.
First, Olasz dominated the 1000-yard freestyle (10:21.51) winning by almost 11 seconds over second-place Kendra Griffin of Washington State. Her success didn’t stop there, though, as she then took first for the second time in as many events, this time in the 500-yard freestyle (5:01.24).
In all, Olasz finished second overall in the meet’s individual rankings with 19 total earned points. Washington State’s Loree Olson was the only swimmer to produce more (22).
In the ensuing event, the 200-yard freestyle, Arizona State swept the top two spots with senior Juanita Barreto (1:50.95) taking first, followed by sophomore Kat Simonovic (1:51.95) in second. The duo garnered 13 of the available 19 event points.
After watching the senior Barreto secure a victory, as a freshman, Jorie Caneta displayed her own capability of a first-place finish. Competing in the 100-yard breaststroke, Caneta touched the pad in 1:02.87, 1.38 seconds ahead of WSU’s Frederikke Hall.
While the women set out to Washington for only one day of competition, the men take to the pool again on Saturday against Seattle with swimmers slated to begin racing at 11 a.m. PT.