The ASU women’s swim and dive season came to a conclusion this weekend as the Sun Devils finished 18th in the country at the NCAA National Championships on Saturday.
ASU had several noteworthy performances at the meet. The Sun Devils set a school record, had a diver finish second in the nation and had a few top-20 finishes.
“I think we experienced all levels of performance,” ASU swim coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said.
Junior diver Elina Eggers finished in second place on the platform dive with a score of 345.60, her best-ever collegiate score. Eggers, who finished fourth in 2010, also finished 12th in the 3-meter springboard and was named an All-American for the second straight year.
“She incrementally improved her performance from a year ago,” ASU dive coach Mark Bradshaw said.
While Eggers gained experience at last year’s NCAA championships, this year’s field was more talented.
“The event, compared to a year ago, was much deeper and stronger,” Bradshaw said. “She just did awesome in the competition. Overall, she had a tremendous competition.”
While Eggers had the most impressive individual achievement, the Sun Devil relay teams were also impressive.
“We had some great swims, particularly from our relays,” Tierney-Walker said.
ASU’s 200-medley relay set a school record of 1 minute, 37.56 seconds. The relay team, which consists of sophomore Kelli Kyle, junior Rebecca Ejdervik, sophomore Caroline Kuczynski and senior Katie Heron, finished eighth in the country.
“For us to get a relay in the top eight is a big step in the right direction,” Tierney-Walker said.
The Sun Devils also had strong performances from their 400-medley relay and their 800-freestyle relay as they finished in 12th and 15th, respectively.
In addition to Eggers, sophomore Caroline Kuczynski also turned in a strong individual performance. Kuczynski finished 16th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.58 seconds.
The lone disappointment of the meet came in the 100-breast stroke event where ASU junior Rebecca Ejdervik was disqualified during the preliminaries. Ejdervik, who was unable to swim in the finals due to her disqualification, is a two-time Pac-10 champion in the event and was anticipating a good result.
Disqualifying in such an important meet is undoubtedly a disappointment, but Tierney-Walker feels Ejdervik responded in a positive way and will build upon the experience.
“Obviously Rebecca’s disqualification was difficult, but I think she handled herself well,” Tierney-Walker said. “If anything, she is now more motivated for the upcoming season.”
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
