While positive team chemistry starts in the locker room, positive team nutrition at ASU starts in the Devil Room.
The newly renovated room, located in the Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex, is filled with stocked refrigerators, blenders, couches, a flat-screen TV and more. The room serves as a relaxation and recovery hub for ASU swimmers, divers, triathletes and water polo players.
“Students lounge here at the pool,” assistant coach Michael Joyce said. “It's a great area for post-practice, if you have to go to study hall or class or something to grab a snack.”
Graduate men's swimmer Reid Elliot reflected on the old lounge prior to the upgrades.
“(There were) really old leather couches where the leather was falling off, no food, no nothing,” Elliot said. “This year was a huge step in the right direction. We all use it – I use it every day.”
“Don’t get me wrong it was a cool place to hang out, but it (had) tattered carpets that were clearly from the 1980s (and) some pretty rugged couches,” graduate men's swimmer Andrew Porter said.
The Devil Room now serves many purposes to the athletes — it can be used as a study lounge, a place to just hang out with teammates and most importantly a place to recover after practice.
With a new emphasis on nutrition, the three stocked refrigerators are each dedicated to one sport and are filled with a variety of fruits, yogurts, protein bars and more. Above the refrigerators painted in black reads “Fuel the Fork.”
“They have all the new fridges for us. They’re keeping it fully stocked, and that is fully funded by the University so we always have something to grab after practice.” Porter said. “Having something 15 to 20 minutes after practice kickstarts your recovery so your body isn’t breaking itself down to recover, so it's huge. It's going to help us a lot.”
In the back of the room is a countdown clock that counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until ASU swim and dive meets with rival University of Arizona which will take place on Feb. 3 in Tempe.
ASU aquatic sports will now have a designated area for them and for generations of ASU athletes to come.
"Attitude. Action. Achievement," is painted above the TV.
“To walk on and to see them honor us, to see us up on the wall and a big Barkley Perry on the ceiling, that's just awesome.” Porter said.
ASU swim and dive will start their season when they host their intra-squad meet on Oct. 6 in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at nsheehy@asu.edu or follow @nsheehy_nick on Twitter.
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