FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Youssef Selim defended his one-meter springboard title and the women set two school records – this time in the 200 medley and 800 free relays – as the Sun Devils opened up a successful day one of the 2019 Pac-12 Championships.
Sun Devil men's diving kicked off championship action earlier this afternoon, with Selim, David Hoffer, Caleb Ives and Brandon Spencer competing in the one-meter springboard. Selim and Hoffer both scored well enough to move onto the final round, as Selim placed third with a score of 321.50 and Hoffer in sixth at 283.90.
"Youssef's preliminary was a little bit rough because I think he had some pressures of defending his title," head diving coach Mark Bradshaw said. "He wasn't very relaxed, so we got him relaxed tonight and he performed very well."
Swimming took the stage next for the 200 medley relay, kicking off their portion with a bang. The ASU-A squad of Chloe Isleta-Silja Kansakoski-Fanny Teijonsalo-Camryn Curry combined to set a school record in the event with a time of 1:37.26. The mark broke an eight-year record of 1:37.42 and earned the Sun Devils 50 points with a fifth-place finish.
"Setting a school record was our goal tonight because you have to have some guide posts along the way to show you progress, and team records are really important for us," head swimming coach Bob Bowman said. "That got us off to a really good start. I felt that was Silja's best breaststroke split ever, Cam Curry had a very good split on the end and I'm very proud of all the girls, but those two really stuck out."
Selim and Hoffer followed over in the diving well in the one-meter board finals. The Egyptian entered the round looking to defend his one-meter title from 2018 and started the evening session strong as he held the lead through three dives.
Selim saved two of his more difficult dives for last and nailed them both, finishing with a score of 402.00 to record back-to-back Pac-12 one-meter championships. He was in a world of his own, defeating second place by over 70 points en route to a personal best mark.
He is first Sun Devil men's diver to record back-to-back championships since Riley McCormick did so in 2011 when he took home his second-straight three-meter and platform titles. Selim also adds the program's 26th men's diving conference championship.
Hoffer joined Selim on the podium, who finished with a score of 317.15 to take third place. The graduate student sat in sixth place halfway through the event, but kicked things into overdrive to jump three places in three dives.
"David also wasn't very sharp in the morning, and in the finals he had three very good dives and three dives that he was a little bit off on," Bradshaw said. "He was podium which was great because one-meter isn't his best event, so for him to not dive that great and finish third was pretty good."
The 800 free relay anchored the evening for the Sun Devils as the women set their second school record in as many events. Cierra Runge-Emma Nordin-Kendall Dawson-Erica Laning touched the wall at 7:00.88 for fourth place, shattering the previous ASU record by over four seconds. The time also secured a NCAA A-Cut for the squad, the first such cut between the men or the women.
"The A-Cut was very important because you have to qualify for the national championship before you can score points at it," Bowman said. "Everything felt exactly how we had hoped, and Emma Nordin had a very, very good split. All the other girls were very solid, so we're looking forward to how this sets us up for the rest of the meet."
After one day, the Sun Devil women sit tied for fourth place with 102 points.
Tomorrow ASU will compete in the men's one-meter and three-meter springboards while the swimmers are set to take the block in the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 500 free and 200 free relay.
"We got some good points overall, and we had Caleb and Brandon competing who haven't been able to train on a consistent basis for the past couple months," Bradshaw said. "With our two best events coming up, we should score pretty well from here on out."
ASU is back in action tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. with preliminary rounds of the 500 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 free. While there is no live stream, fans can follow the action through live stats or by following @ASUSwimDive on Twitter.
Sun Devil men's diving kicked off championship action earlier this afternoon, with Selim, David Hoffer, Caleb Ives and Brandon Spencer competing in the one-meter springboard. Selim and Hoffer both scored well enough to move onto the final round, as Selim placed third with a score of 321.50 and Hoffer in sixth at 283.90.
"Youssef's preliminary was a little bit rough because I think he had some pressures of defending his title," head diving coach Mark Bradshaw said. "He wasn't very relaxed, so we got him relaxed tonight and he performed very well."
Swimming took the stage next for the 200 medley relay, kicking off their portion with a bang. The ASU-A squad of Chloe Isleta-Silja Kansakoski-Fanny Teijonsalo-Camryn Curry combined to set a school record in the event with a time of 1:37.26. The mark broke an eight-year record of 1:37.42 and earned the Sun Devils 50 points with a fifth-place finish.
"Setting a school record was our goal tonight because you have to have some guide posts along the way to show you progress, and team records are really important for us," head swimming coach Bob Bowman said. "That got us off to a really good start. I felt that was Silja's best breaststroke split ever, Cam Curry had a very good split on the end and I'm very proud of all the girls, but those two really stuck out."
Selim and Hoffer followed over in the diving well in the one-meter board finals. The Egyptian entered the round looking to defend his one-meter title from 2018 and started the evening session strong as he held the lead through three dives.
Selim saved two of his more difficult dives for last and nailed them both, finishing with a score of 402.00 to record back-to-back Pac-12 one-meter championships. He was in a world of his own, defeating second place by over 70 points en route to a personal best mark.
He is first Sun Devil men's diver to record back-to-back championships since Riley McCormick did so in 2011 when he took home his second-straight three-meter and platform titles. Selim also adds the program's 26th men's diving conference championship.
Hoffer joined Selim on the podium, who finished with a score of 317.15 to take third place. The graduate student sat in sixth place halfway through the event, but kicked things into overdrive to jump three places in three dives.
"David also wasn't very sharp in the morning, and in the finals he had three very good dives and three dives that he was a little bit off on," Bradshaw said. "He was podium which was great because one-meter isn't his best event, so for him to not dive that great and finish third was pretty good."
The 800 free relay anchored the evening for the Sun Devils as the women set their second school record in as many events. Cierra Runge-Emma Nordin-Kendall Dawson-Erica Laning touched the wall at 7:00.88 for fourth place, shattering the previous ASU record by over four seconds. The time also secured a NCAA A-Cut for the squad, the first such cut between the men or the women.
"The A-Cut was very important because you have to qualify for the national championship before you can score points at it," Bowman said. "Everything felt exactly how we had hoped, and Emma Nordin had a very, very good split. All the other girls were very solid, so we're looking forward to how this sets us up for the rest of the meet."
After one day, the Sun Devil women sit tied for fourth place with 102 points.
Tomorrow ASU will compete in the men's one-meter and three-meter springboards while the swimmers are set to take the block in the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 500 free and 200 free relay.
"We got some good points overall, and we had Caleb and Brandon competing who haven't been able to train on a consistent basis for the past couple months," Bradshaw said. "With our two best events coming up, we should score pretty well from here on out."
ASU is back in action tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. with preliminary rounds of the 500 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 free. While there is no live stream, fans can follow the action through live stats or by following @ASUSwimDive on Twitter.