As the calendar turns to winter, the ASU swim and dive teams strive to improve upon early successes in preparation for the Pac-10 Championships at the end of February.
The ASU dive team began the season with one new addition, so expectations were high. However, the swim team was on the opposite end of the spectrum as it began the season with 15 freshmen on the men’s team and nine on the women’s team.
With the championship portion of the season still months away, the swim and dive teams are still working on minor details.
“We are still at that beginning part of the season where we are training pretty hard,” ASU dive coach Mark Bradshaw said.
Several ASU divers were impressive this fall, as five different Sun Devils have won events. Juniors Constantin Blaha, Cameron Bradshaw, and Elina Eggers have all won events this season along with sophomore Riley McCormick and freshman Hailey Casper.
Although he has not won an event this season, senior Chris Pasanella scored a career best on the 3-meter dive in the season opener at Hawaii.
The season is still young, but the dive team is right where they want to be.
“Everybody’s doing pretty well,” Bradshaw said. “We’re where we need to be [at this point in the year].”
Since this season’s dive team had little change from last year’s team, it was able to start the year strong, without having to worry about chemistry and other issues that usually plague young teams.
“Last year’s team was the best group of individuals I’ve ever had,” Bradshaw said. “This year we have everyone back plus Hailey Casper so this is new territory as far as talent level. I feel pretty good about where we are.”
The dive team is currently injury free and needs to maintain the high level of focus and determination they have displayed so far this season, and if last year is any indication, there is no reason to doubt the dive team will be a very special and successful group.
While experience has led the dive team, a large part of the swim team has spent the fall getting used to competing at the collegiate level.
Despite the lack of experience, ASU coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker is happy with her team’s progress thus far.
“We’re much better at this time in the year than we were last year,” Tierney-Walker said.
The men’s swim team expects to get better as the year progresses and the freshmen continue to adjust.
ASU freshman Hayden Thomas admitted the transition from high school has been difficult at times for both him and the other newcomers.
“It’s definitely been a challenge [because we] practice [more],” Hayden said of swimming at the Division I level. “We are doing a lot more training than we did in high school. I think everyone is handling it really well.”
Hayden Thomas is just one of several Sun Devils on the men’s squad who have had success early this season.
While Thomas has been able to come away with a few wins, the women have been able to set school and meet records.
Junior Rebecca Ejdervik set a meet record at the Arena Invitational in the 100-yard breaststroke on Nov. 20.
Sophomore Cassie Morrice set the school record in the 500-yard freestyle, and freshman Tristin Baxter has set the school record in both the 1,650-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle events at the same invitational.
Although the teams have had early success, there are still improvements that need to be made prior to the winter stretch and championship portion of the season.
“We need to continue working on small details and also [on] getting to the wall first,” Thomas said.
The season resumes for the women on Dec. 18 and the dive team gets back to competition in early January.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
