TEMPE, Ariz. – In their first and only home action of 2018, Sun Devil Swimming is set to kick off the 2018-19 year with their annual intrasquad meet on Friday at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
The squad looks to build upon the recent success experienced within the past two seasons, including a No. 8 finish in the polls by the men and a No. 5-ranked incoming class as reported by Swim Swam magazine. The Sun Devils prepare to continue that upward improvement this season.
THE DETAILS
The Sun Devil swim teams unofficially open their season with this weekend's intrasquad meet at 3 p.m. Friday, September 28, an event free to the public. This even will be the fans' first and only chance to see this year's swim squad in 2018, as the squads are not back in town for a meet until the end of January 2019.
ON THE WORLD STAGE
HOMECOMING
The Sun Devils added a new coach to the staff in the offseason -- #SunDevil4Life Herbie Behm.
Behm returns to Tempe after serving as the assistant sprints coach at the University of Utah for two seasons. During his tenure in Salt Lake, Behm led a group of more than 20 student-athletes in their daily training programs while assisting and working with each individual's technique, training strategies and post-race analysis. Under Behm's tutelage, 20 student-athletes set school records in just two seasons.
At Utah, Behm also coached a 2018 Pac-12 Champion and an All-American in the 200 medley relay. One of his student-athletes also swam the fastest 50-yard backstroke in the nation in the 2017-18 season.
Behm swam at Arizona State from 2010-13. Excelling in the classroom as well, Behm was a three-time Scholar-Athlete Award winner and graduated with his degree in Psychology while minoring in Communications. As a Sun Devil, Behm was a part of the foursome that set the school record in the 400 medley relay.
RETURNING TALENT
On the student-athlete side, the squad returns 10 2018 NCAA qualifiers in Cameron Craig, Danny Comforti, Grant House, Zach Poti, Youssef Selim, Frida Kaellgren, Ashley McCool, Chloe Isleta, Silja Kansakoski and Marlies Ross.
MEN BRING IN NO. 5 INCOMING CLASS IN THE NATION
Boasting yet another exceptional recruiting class, the Sun Devil men's swimming program's 2018 haul was chosen as the No. 5 class in the nation, according to Swim Swam magazine's annual evaluation of NCAA Division I swimming classes.
The highly-touted Sun Devil class features 16 freshman and seven four-year university transfers spanning 12 states including Missouri, Ohio, Arizona, Virginia, Texas, Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York and one international student from Australia.
Swim Swam recognized freshmen Cody Bybee, Noah Henry, Khalil Fonder and transfers Jack Kucharczyk (Indiana) and Carter Swift (Eastern Michigan) as top-tier additions to the class.
The class, recognized as one of the nation's largest signing groups, rose quickly through the rankings, as only one of the class' prospects broke the magazine's top-20 list in the summer of 2017. After huge senior campaigns, that number tripled to three.
The class boasts nine swimmers with 100 free times of 44.9 or better, five with 50 free bests of 20.3 or better and six with 200 free bests at 1:36.6 or better. This adds to an already strong crop of Sun Devil freestylers that includes Cameron Craig, who owns all 10 of the top-10 200 free times in ASU history and Grant House, who put up the No. 24 time in the world during the 2017-18 season in the 200 free over the summer.
POWERHOUSE SCHEDULE
This season, Arizona State will face last year's national champions on each side – Texas (men) and Stanford (women) – as well as two of the top five overall finishers at NCAA's a year ago. The diving squad heads to the Texas Diving Invitational in November and Stanford rolling into Tempe at the end of January.
During the dual season, the men's and women's teams also face seven top-25 teams to finish last season, including the top-ranked team for each. The men face No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Cal, No, 3 Indiana, No. 6 Texas, No. 9 USC, No. 18 Arizona while the women face those teams plus No. 21 UCLA.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
The Sun Devils earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors as a team, marking the 10th-consecutive semester dating back to Fall 2013 that both Sun Devil squads have earned a place in the team, while the ASU men have achieved upward improvement for the past three seasons. 17 individual Sun Devil swimmers and divers were also named Scholar All-Americans.
Rounding out the selections were Sarah Bathe, Camryn Curry, Kendall Dawson, Emma Nordin, Fanny Teijonsalo, Cameron Smith, Heikki Makikallio, Youssef Selim and Jack Dalmolin.
Of the 17 honorees, nine were freshman. This honor marks the second such for three Sun Devils in Dawson, Kansakoski and Selim, and the fourth-straight for Makikallio. The diver notched a Scholar All-American award every year as a Sun Devil, graduating with his degree in finance last month.
The squad looks to build upon the recent success experienced within the past two seasons, including a No. 8 finish in the polls by the men and a No. 5-ranked incoming class as reported by Swim Swam magazine. The Sun Devils prepare to continue that upward improvement this season.
THE DETAILS
The Sun Devil swim teams unofficially open their season with this weekend's intrasquad meet at 3 p.m. Friday, September 28, an event free to the public. This even will be the fans' first and only chance to see this year's swim squad in 2018, as the squads are not back in town for a meet until the end of January 2019.
ON THE WORLD STAGE
- Freshman Ashley McCool represented her country in her native Calgary at the 2018 Canada Cup Grand Prix, earning silver in the 3M synchro ahead of the United States, Cuba and Germany.
- McCool added another medal to her collection at the Summer Speedo Nationals, putting up a score of of 283.10 in the finals to place third in the event and earn a bronze medal.
- Nine Sun Devils trekked to Columbus to compete against some of the top swimmers in the country in the last stop of the summer at the TYR Pro Swim Series. ASU put up a whopping 13 top-10 finishes on the weekend, making them one of just six universities (Michigan, Louisville, Ohio State, Kentucky, Indiana) to record 10+ top-10 finishes in the series. Cierra Runge put up four of those finishes alone, placing in the top-5 in every single event she took the block for, including a second-place finish in the 400M and 800M freestyle, third in the 1500M free and fifth in the 200M free. Grant House also came up big for the Sun Devils, putting up several lifetime bests en route to a third-place finish in the 200M free and fourth in the 200 IM.
- The Phillips 66 National Championships was a great meet for the Sun Devils, as several swimmers set personal bests. Cierra Runge took second place overall in the 800FR, swimming a time of 8:29.93, a whole three seconds faster than third place. Among them was Grant House, whose time of 1.46.95 in the 200FR was good for the 24th fastest time in 2017-18, giving him first place in the B Finals of the event. Danny Comforti (200BR) and Zach Poti (200BK) were among Sun Devils who set personal bests in the event, and Erica Laning had a sub-two-minute time in the 200FR to put up another solid performance for ASU.
- Frida Kaellgren competed again in the 1M dive for her country at the Swedish National Championships, racking up her second-straight gold medal in the event to become a Swedish National Champion in the event. Kaellgren notched a gold medal in the same event in 2017 and a silver in the 3M dive as well.
HOMECOMING
The Sun Devils added a new coach to the staff in the offseason -- #SunDevil4Life Herbie Behm.
Behm returns to Tempe after serving as the assistant sprints coach at the University of Utah for two seasons. During his tenure in Salt Lake, Behm led a group of more than 20 student-athletes in their daily training programs while assisting and working with each individual's technique, training strategies and post-race analysis. Under Behm's tutelage, 20 student-athletes set school records in just two seasons.
At Utah, Behm also coached a 2018 Pac-12 Champion and an All-American in the 200 medley relay. One of his student-athletes also swam the fastest 50-yard backstroke in the nation in the 2017-18 season.
Behm swam at Arizona State from 2010-13. Excelling in the classroom as well, Behm was a three-time Scholar-Athlete Award winner and graduated with his degree in Psychology while minoring in Communications. As a Sun Devil, Behm was a part of the foursome that set the school record in the 400 medley relay.
RETURNING TALENT
On the student-athlete side, the squad returns 10 2018 NCAA qualifiers in Cameron Craig, Danny Comforti, Grant House, Zach Poti, Youssef Selim, Frida Kaellgren, Ashley McCool, Chloe Isleta, Silja Kansakoski and Marlies Ross.
MEN BRING IN NO. 5 INCOMING CLASS IN THE NATION
Boasting yet another exceptional recruiting class, the Sun Devil men's swimming program's 2018 haul was chosen as the No. 5 class in the nation, according to Swim Swam magazine's annual evaluation of NCAA Division I swimming classes.
The highly-touted Sun Devil class features 16 freshman and seven four-year university transfers spanning 12 states including Missouri, Ohio, Arizona, Virginia, Texas, Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York and one international student from Australia.
Swim Swam recognized freshmen Cody Bybee, Noah Henry, Khalil Fonder and transfers Jack Kucharczyk (Indiana) and Carter Swift (Eastern Michigan) as top-tier additions to the class.
The class, recognized as one of the nation's largest signing groups, rose quickly through the rankings, as only one of the class' prospects broke the magazine's top-20 list in the summer of 2017. After huge senior campaigns, that number tripled to three.
The class boasts nine swimmers with 100 free times of 44.9 or better, five with 50 free bests of 20.3 or better and six with 200 free bests at 1:36.6 or better. This adds to an already strong crop of Sun Devil freestylers that includes Cameron Craig, who owns all 10 of the top-10 200 free times in ASU history and Grant House, who put up the No. 24 time in the world during the 2017-18 season in the 200 free over the summer.
POWERHOUSE SCHEDULE
This season, Arizona State will face last year's national champions on each side – Texas (men) and Stanford (women) – as well as two of the top five overall finishers at NCAA's a year ago. The diving squad heads to the Texas Diving Invitational in November and Stanford rolling into Tempe at the end of January.
During the dual season, the men's and women's teams also face seven top-25 teams to finish last season, including the top-ranked team for each. The men face No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Cal, No, 3 Indiana, No. 6 Texas, No. 9 USC, No. 18 Arizona while the women face those teams plus No. 21 UCLA.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
The Sun Devils earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors as a team, marking the 10th-consecutive semester dating back to Fall 2013 that both Sun Devil squads have earned a place in the team, while the ASU men have achieved upward improvement for the past three seasons. 17 individual Sun Devil swimmers and divers were also named Scholar All-Americans.
Rounding out the selections were Sarah Bathe, Camryn Curry, Kendall Dawson, Emma Nordin, Fanny Teijonsalo, Cameron Smith, Heikki Makikallio, Youssef Selim and Jack Dalmolin.
Of the 17 honorees, nine were freshman. This honor marks the second such for three Sun Devils in Dawson, Kansakoski and Selim, and the fourth-straight for Makikallio. The diver notched a Scholar All-American award every year as a Sun Devil, graduating with his degree in finance last month.