TEMPE, Ariz. – ASU men's and women's swim/dive open a busy home schedule to start the season with a pair of dual meets this weekend.
THE DETAILS
The Sun Devils host Utah in a Pac-12 showdown on Friday, Oct. 27 (4 p.m.) and Florida State on Saturday, Oct. 28 (11 a.m.). Both meets will take place at Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex (601 S College Ave. Tempe, AZ 85287) and are free to the public.
ASU's men are ranked No. 8 by CSCAA to start the season, while the women are receiving votes in the same poll.
On Saturday vs. Florida State, the diving teams will compete in the platform dive, rarely seen during regular season dual meets throughout the season.
THE OPPONENTS
Utah has faced arguably their toughest opponents of the season early on, hosting No. 1/2 Cal and No. 3/1 Stanford, falling in both meets over the last two weekends.
Florida State has several meets already under their belt this season, finishing second in the All-Florida Invite between FSU, Florida, and Miami in Gainesville in September, followed by a home win over Minnesota.
They also competed in a tri-meet at Duke two weekends ago, downing the Blue Devils but losing to Virginia Tech.
Both Seminoles teams are ranked, with the men No. 20 and the women No. 23.
NEW KIDS IN TOWN
The Sun Devils added two new coaches to the staff in the offseason – Rachel Stratton-Mills and Michael Joyce.
Stratton-Mills was hired in April 2017 and brings extensive experience both on the coaching and administrative side of swimming to Tempe. She served as head coach of Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics (2010-15), placing an athlete on the 2012 US Olympic Team, with two other athletes named to the National Junior Team during her tenure.
At the collegiate level, she served as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College and the University of Maryland, College Park. Outside of coaching, she's served as a member of the USA Swimming Rules/Regulations Committee and served on a USA Swimming Safe Sport Task Force.
Joyce joined the Sun Devil staff in July 2017, previously serving as lead Sprint & Middle-Distance Coach for the 2016 Ivy League conference and dual meet champion men's team at Princeton University. He also has experience as the Head Age-Group Coach/Senior Assistant Coach at Raleigh Swimming Association (2013-15), Gator Swim Club Elite and Age Group Assistant Coach (2012-13), and at his alma mater (Florida).
On the student-athlete side, joining key returners like Pac-12 Champion and USA Swimming National Team member Cameron Craig, Pac-12 Champion and Honorable Mention All-American Mara Aiacoboae, and Pac-12 Champion and First Team Scholar All-American Silja Kansakoski are a large number of significant newcomers including but not limited to:
Four Sun Devils – Christian Lorenz, Cameron Craig, Kendall Dawson, and Silja Kansakoski – helped lead the Pac-12 to victory over Team USA in last weekend's USA College Challenge in Los Angeles, 326.50-286.50.
Craig anchored the winning men's 400 free relay team that closed the meet, also scoring points in the 200 free. Kansakoski's 100 breast time and Craig's 200 free time were good for eighth and ninth on ASU's all-time records in the respective events.
NEXT UP
Next weekend, the teams host another set of dual meets, welcoming USC on Friday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. and UCLA on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 11 a.m.
THE DETAILS
The Sun Devils host Utah in a Pac-12 showdown on Friday, Oct. 27 (4 p.m.) and Florida State on Saturday, Oct. 28 (11 a.m.). Both meets will take place at Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex (601 S College Ave. Tempe, AZ 85287) and are free to the public.
ASU's men are ranked No. 8 by CSCAA to start the season, while the women are receiving votes in the same poll.
On Saturday vs. Florida State, the diving teams will compete in the platform dive, rarely seen during regular season dual meets throughout the season.
THE OPPONENTS
Utah has faced arguably their toughest opponents of the season early on, hosting No. 1/2 Cal and No. 3/1 Stanford, falling in both meets over the last two weekends.
Florida State has several meets already under their belt this season, finishing second in the All-Florida Invite between FSU, Florida, and Miami in Gainesville in September, followed by a home win over Minnesota.
They also competed in a tri-meet at Duke two weekends ago, downing the Blue Devils but losing to Virginia Tech.
Both Seminoles teams are ranked, with the men No. 20 and the women No. 23.
NEW KIDS IN TOWN
The Sun Devils added two new coaches to the staff in the offseason – Rachel Stratton-Mills and Michael Joyce.
Stratton-Mills was hired in April 2017 and brings extensive experience both on the coaching and administrative side of swimming to Tempe. She served as head coach of Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics (2010-15), placing an athlete on the 2012 US Olympic Team, with two other athletes named to the National Junior Team during her tenure.
At the collegiate level, she served as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College and the University of Maryland, College Park. Outside of coaching, she's served as a member of the USA Swimming Rules/Regulations Committee and served on a USA Swimming Safe Sport Task Force.
Joyce joined the Sun Devil staff in July 2017, previously serving as lead Sprint & Middle-Distance Coach for the 2016 Ivy League conference and dual meet champion men's team at Princeton University. He also has experience as the Head Age-Group Coach/Senior Assistant Coach at Raleigh Swimming Association (2013-15), Gator Swim Club Elite and Age Group Assistant Coach (2012-13), and at his alma mater (Florida).
On the student-athlete side, joining key returners like Pac-12 Champion and USA Swimming National Team member Cameron Craig, Pac-12 Champion and Honorable Mention All-American Mara Aiacoboae, and Pac-12 Champion and First Team Scholar All-American Silja Kansakoski are a large number of significant newcomers including but not limited to:
- World Junior Champion (800 free relay), Olympic Trials qualifier, Ohio state champion (200/500 free), and seventh best male recruit of 2017 Grant House
- Olympic Trials qualifier, mid-distance freestyler Erica Laning
- NCSA Summer Championships qualifier Will Brenton
- Two-time NCSA Championships finalist Camryn Curry
- All-American freestyle specialist, CIF State Championship gold medalist in 200/400 free relays Graham Hauss
- Indiana high school state record-holder in 500 free, state champion in 200/500 free Emma Nordin
- Four-time Junior National qualifier, helped lead high school to seventh consecutive state championship Evan Kolde
- CIF-Southern Section Division I champion in 200 IM Nora Deleske
- Winner of four straight Washington state 500 free titles Cameron Smith
- CSCAA All-American, First Team Scholar All-American, and FINA World Championships competitor transferring from Florida Gulf Coast Fanny Teijonsalo
- European Junior Diving Championships and European Aquatic Championships competitor Frida Kaellgren
- Canadian National Team member who earned a medal sweep at the Canada Summer Games Ashley McCool
Four Sun Devils – Christian Lorenz, Cameron Craig, Kendall Dawson, and Silja Kansakoski – helped lead the Pac-12 to victory over Team USA in last weekend's USA College Challenge in Los Angeles, 326.50-286.50.
Craig anchored the winning men's 400 free relay team that closed the meet, also scoring points in the 200 free. Kansakoski's 100 breast time and Craig's 200 free time were good for eighth and ninth on ASU's all-time records in the respective events.
NEXT UP
Next weekend, the teams host another set of dual meets, welcoming USC on Friday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. and UCLA on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 11 a.m.