The expectations are often high for a team after a year that saw eleven athletes head to the NCAA National Championships.
As for the ASU swim and dive program, nine of those athletes are back for the 2011-12 season.
Saturday’s meet against UNLV is the first competition of the season for the Sun Devils, who are looking to build on their success. Last year the men’s team placed seventh in the Pac-10 Championship, and sent three divers to the NCAAs while the women captured 18th as a team in the national meet.
Swim coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker’s key focus is to improve her teams’ finishes from last season and send more individuals back to Austin, Tex. for the NCAA meet, especially from her strong women’s team.
“Our women in particular are looking to improve their National Championship finish,” Tierney-Walker said. “We had 10 women qualify for the NCAA Championships and we would like to increase that number.”
Tierney-Walker, who took the swim and dive head coaching helm in 2009, is also excited for her “promising newcomers” on the team.
This year the swim and dive team welcomed eleven freshmen. Tierney-Walker spoke highly of Zach Dalby, Miranda Tornatore, and sophomore Michigan transfer Mattie Kukors, labeling all of them as “versatile.”
The women’s swim team will also compete in its last year with senior Rebecca Ejdervik.
The All-American is coming off from a successful junior campaign, earning her second consecutive Pac-10 Championship in the women’s 100 Breaststroke, breaking the school records in the that event and in the 400 Medley Relay, and recording the fastest 50 Long Course Meter Breaststroke in the world at the Canadian World Championship Trials.
But Ejdervik is eager to get back in the water after a disappointing end at the national meet.
“Unfortunately last year, I was disqualified at NCAA, so that’s not going to happen again,” Ejdervik said. I’m hoping to improve what I did last year. Last collegiate season, I’m going to do everything I can to make it three consecutive years of winning the Pac-10, and do a lot better in the NCAA.”
Tierney-Walker said she admires Ejdervik’s development as a swimmer over the past two seasons.
“She has matured each year as an athlete,” Tierney-Walker said.
Although diving is its own branch of competition in the program, dive coach Mark Bradshaw’s expectations for the season are not much different from Tierney-Walker’s.
“Conference meet, NCAA qualifying — those are the big ones,” Bradshaw said. “Those are the ones we’re going for. It’s early in the season, and we’ve really been conditioning hard.”
Junior Constantin Blaha, senior Elina Eggers, and Bradshaw’s own son, senior Cameron Bradshaw, lead the diving team. Coach Bradshaw believes freshman Kevin Olson can develop in the season’s first meets and “do some damage.”
“We hope to get two or three women this year (in nationals this year,)” Bradshaw said. “We have a very good group of divers this year. One of the smaller groups I’ve had, but in terms of quality, one of the best.”
Road to London
Although the ASU swim and dive team has set collegiate commitments, several athletes have also set goals to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England, including Riley McCormick.
McCormick, the reigning back-to-back Pac-10 Diver of the Year and Platform Champion, has used his redshirt year to pursue the Olympics.
“He’s put his competition and academic year on hold,” Bradshaw said. “He’s trying to make his Canadian Olympic team, so he’s gone home to train full time, diving only. So he’s not here this year, but I know he’s training very hard.”
Ejdervik said she also has her sights set on the Olympics, but is still focused on completing her collegiate legacy.
“I’m so excited to get back to competing again,” said Ejdervik. “All we’ve been doing is training, and what you want to do is compete. I love competing. We’re all really excited.”
Reach the reporter at jnacion@asu.edu
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