By Jordan Parry, ASU Media Relations
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State men (0-1) and women’s (0-1) swim and dive teams entered the pool Friday afternoon at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center for the first leg of back-to-back home meets against Big Ten opponents. Squaring off against Wisconsin first, the ASU men suffered a close defeat, 130.5-111.5, while the women dropped their battle, 142-92.
The Sun Devils will set out looking to improve on the first meet of the season, as they host Minnesota on Saturday at noon PT for a second consecutive day of competition.
Despite tallies in the loss columns, both the ASU men and women’s teams have a lot to look forward to upcoming this season, and Friday’s meet was just the first stepping stone along the long-term journey to accomplishing the goals they have set out for them.
“These guys haven’t raced in a while,” ASU head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said after the meet. “We tried to execute like we’ve been working on. Let’s look at video tape, look at splits, and make adjustments for tomorrow.”
On the men’s side, the 200-medley relay, consisting of sophomore Barkley Perry, junior Thibaut Capitaine, sophomore Tadas Duskinas, and freshman Patrick Park, provided an immediate spark by finishing in first-place in the first event of the year, swimming a time of 1:30.33. To close the meet the way it began, the men’s 200 freestyle relay team of Park, Duskinas, junior Sean Kao, and Perry notched a second first-place finish in as many relays, combining for a time of 1:21.82.
“Winning the first two relays of the season is a huge momentum boost for these guys,” Tierney-Walker said.
All in all, Sun Devils won six individual events on the day. For the women, sophomore Kat Simonovic paced the field from start to finish in the 200 freestyle, taking first with a time of 1:49.79. Senior Hailey Casper also reminded everyone why she made the trip to the NCAA Championships last season, earning a score of 280.80 in the 1-meter dive en route to victory.
Staying with diving, freshman Heikki Makikallio put on a show, displaying why ASU won’t skip a beat off the board, even after losing Olympic diver Riley McCormick. Makikallio swept the men’s diving events for ASU, earning a score of 289.88 on the 3-meter dive, and 296.18 on the 1-meter event.
However, two Sun Devils who made exceptional impressions on the coaches came from men’s swimming. Besides swimming in both the winning relays, Duskinas and Park both earned victories in the 50 freestyle (20.89) and 200 butterfly (1:50.74), respectively.
“Pat Park and Tadas Duskinas were on both winning relays and won their individual events, so they were real bright spots,” Tierney-Walker said.
They weren’t the only ones.
“On the women’s side, Lori Kremer,” Tierney-Walker pronounced. “She went 2:03.89 in the 200 fly. This is her first meet back after a very serious injury last year, and that was a heck of a race for her.”