TEMPE -- At long last, the Sun Devils are back to competing at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center this weekend for the first time in nearly 21 months. Fans will have the luxury of watching a Sun Devil program that teems with talent, one that has the pieces to become the most successful group in the Bob Bowman era.
Schedule
The No. 22 Women's team will host the UCLA Bruins on Friday, November 5, with competition slated for 2:00 p.m.
The following day, both Sun Devil swimming teams will welcome the USC Trojans, and it'll serve as the regular season opener for the No. 13 Sun Devil Men's team. The meet is scheduled to begin at 12:00 pm.
Each of the four squads competing Saturday -- the men's and women's teams from both respective schools -- are in the top-25 rankings, per the College swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America's preseason polls. The Trojans Men's and Women's teams clock in at Nos. 23 and 17, respectively.
Looking at the Devils
WOMEN'S TEAM (1-0, 1-0 in Pac-12)
The No. 22 Women's team is two weeks removed from its last meet, an October 16 thumping over the Washington State Cougars. Associate head coach Rachel Stratton-Mills praised both the veteran leadership and the young talent following the 157-105 win in Pullman.
Thirteen of the 27 Sun Devils on the roster had yet to make their collegiate debuts entering this season. The Sun Devils were able to pair their youth movement -- which saw Elli Straume, Charli Brown, Riley Lexvold, Hana Edwards, Iza Adame and Emma Gehlert earn podium finishes in their debuts -- with the dazzling duo of redshirt seniors Emma Nordin and Erica Laning, two of the meet's top four scorers.
Though just one meet in, Lexvold owns the top times this season in the 50, 100 and 200 yard backstroke events.
The Sun Devils won the first six events of the meet at Washington State and cruised to a comfortable win the rest of the way.
MEN'S TEAM (0-0)
Similarly to the Sun Devil Women's team, the Men's squad is ripe with veteran presence and young flair. They return a number of swimmers who raced in this summer's Olympic Trials, along with former Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Jack Dolan and seven CSCAA All-Americans from the 2019-20 season.
And, of course, the rookies: Of the 36 on the men's roster, 19 are freshmen or redshirt freshmen who have yet to make their collegiate debuts. Among them are Jarod Arroyo and Léon Marchand, two Olympians who both competed in the Tokyo Games this summer all before their first Sun Devil competition.
A trio of true freshmen in Dylan Gravley, Patrick Sammon and Jeremy Graunke are all members of Team USA Swimming's 2021-22 season, as Gravley was named to the National Swimming Team, and Sammon and Graunke make up the Junior National Team.
The Sun Devils also received a boost via the transfer portal, when former Arizona Wildcat David Schlicht -- who had a fourth-place finish in the 400 IM at last year's NCAA Championships -- committed to Arizona State over the summer.
The pieces are there for Bowman's Sun Devils to contend for a conference championship.
Looking at the opposition
UCLA, (2-0)
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The Bruins opened conference play last weekend with a decisive 169-91 win over Washington State to move to 2-0 They won 11 of 14 events, with eight different swimmers earning wins. The Bruins' youth movement helped lead the way, as freshmen Paige MacEachern, Mia Chang and Eva Carlson all tallied wins.
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The Bruins are fresh off one of their best seasons in more than a decade, as their third-place finish at last season's Pac-12 Championships was the school's highest placing since a runner-up effort in 2006.
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All nine Bruins who traveled to the NCAA Championships last spring are back in the Blue & Gold for UCLA this season.
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It's been two years since these two schools last met, when the Bruins narrowly pulled out a 156-142 win in Tempe on Nov. 2, 2019.
USC
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The Men's team (1-0) earned their first win of the season in late October with a commanding 172-85 win over UCSB.
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Similarly to the Sun Devils, the Trojans are a blend of new and old. The program returns four who competed in the summer Tokyo Games, plus Artem Selin, Mason Morris and Chris O'Grady, all considered to be the group's highly-touted newcomers.
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Second-year head coach Jeremy Kipp retained every Trojan from last year's roster, including a handful of All-Americans.
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The No. 17 Trojan Women's team (1-0) cruised to a season-opening 161-93 win over Washington State on Oct. 29. Freshman Marlene Kahler won both the 500 and 1000 yard free.
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The 2021-22 Trojans received a boost with the return of Laticia Transom, the 2020 Pac- 12 100 and 200 yard free champion, who was sidelined all of last season due to an injury.
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Sophomores Anicka Delgado and Marlene Kahler, who hail from Ecuador and Austria,respectively, both competed in this summer's Tokyo Olympics.
- After a fifth-place finish at last season's Pac-12 Championships, the Trojans returned all but three for this year, including the defending two-time Pac-12 breaststroke champion Kaitlyn Dobler.
How to watch
Both days of action will be streamed on the Pac-12 Arizona State University live stream, which can be found here.