The ASU swim and dive program understands it needs to put in a lot of work in order to reach its goals of winning the Pac-12 meet and sending more athletes to the NCAAs.
After the first meet against UNLV on Oct. 22, swim coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker is pleased with the progress the team has made so far this season.
“We’re better from two weeks ago,” Tierney-Walker said. “We’re also going to be a little bit more tired from training. But I think hopefully we can execute our races at an even higher level than we did in our first meet.”
The Sun Devils are back in the water on Saturday at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center when they host Wisconsin, a team that Tierney-Walker labeled, “A very formidable opponent.”
The Badgers saw success in the Big Ten and National meets last season, notably on the women’s side. Wisconsin finished last season at No. 17 in the coaches’ poll, and retained five of their six swimmers who competed in the NCAAs.
Anchoring the Badgers is senior Ashley Wanland, a three-time All-American in the breaststroke events and a silver-medal winner in the 2011 PanAmerican Games. Wanland currently owns the NCAA-best time in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:01.70.
The 100-yard breaststroke race on Saturday will be a battle of All-Americans, as Wanland is matched up against ASU senior Rebecca Ejdervik, who boasts success at the NCAAs and on the international level. The Swedish National Team member beat the NCAA “B” Standard in the first meet against UNLV with a time of 1:02.38.
On the men’s side, the Badgers have one All-American in junior Daniel Lester in the 200-yard butterfly. Despite Wisconsin’s success with Lester, Tierney-Walker said ASU matches up well against the Badger’s men’s team.
Tierney-Walker does not feel that this meet will have any implications toward the postseason events, but she is pleased to be up against quality opposition this early in the season.
“This (meet) gives us a benchmark,” Tierney-Walker said. “Anytime you have a team that comes in and they’re a top-10 program, they provide a good benchmark for not only where we are now, but really where we need to go to in the future as far as where we want to be.
“It’s going to come down to being disciplined in our racing strategy, and really being disciplined from the front to the wall. Relays are going to play a big part into our success.”
No Badgers diving
Wisconsin will not be sending any divers to the other side of the Plummer Aquatic Center on Saturday, leaving the dive team to compete in an intrasquad meet.
Although the ASU divers are by themselves for now, dive coach Mark Bradshaw still wants his athletes to stay ready for the approaching meets and beyond.
“We’re still in training mode like right now,” Bradshaw said. “We’re not looking for big results. I’m just looking for everybody to get out there and compete. I know we’re not going to be where we want to be even in a few more months, but nevertheless this is a chance to see where our competitive juices are at this time in November.”
Sophomore Hailey Casper and seniors Constantin Blaha, Cameron Bradshaw and Elina Eggers already qualified for the Zone E Championships in the first meet of the season, but Coach Bradshaw said he expects for freshmen Kevin Olson and Sydney Czaus to qualify within the next few weeks.
Reach the reporter at jnacion@asu.edu
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