ASU men's swim and dive is in the thick of the Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Washington. The team jumped out to a solid start on the first day of the competition, but an up-and-down day two leaves the Sun Devils with work left to do as the the weekend-long event continues.
Day 1: ASU qualifies 7 swimmers for NCAA Championships
ASU men’s swim and dive finally got the anticipated opportunity to compete in the Pac-12 Championships, and with a convincing night one, the Sun Devils jumped out to a quick start.
In both the 800-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay, the ASU teams broke school records.
The team that broke the old freestyle record was comprised of freshman Cameron Craig, and seniors Richard Bohus, Thomaz Martins and Barkley Perry (6:17.44).
Craig’s lead leg of the race broke a school record of its own with a split of 1:32.16 and gave him the fourth-fastest individual time in the country.
Bohus and juniors Christian Lorenz, Andrew Porter and Patrick Park made up the record-breaking 200-yard medley relay team (1:24.08).
NEW ASU RECORD! The 200 Medley Relay of Bohus, Lorenz, Porter, and Park smashes the 2016 record, finishing 1:24.08 for 5th #Pac12Swim #ASU
— ASU Swimming&Diving (@ASUSwimDive) March 2, 2017
With both teams crushing previous school records head coach Bob Bowman said the men started off the competition the way he had hoped.
“I'm extremely proud of our guys and how they raced tonight,” Bowman said. “We qualified seven men for the National Championships tonight, I'm very pleased.”
Those seven swimmers and others were able to rack up 146 points, giving ASU a solid grip on third place.
Although third is great placement to start the Pac-12 Championships, ASU has higher aspirations for the tournament.
Men's swim broke three school records! Great job @ASUSwim and good luck today. https://t.co/lULjIsQTUn
— Michael Crow (@michaelcrow) March 2, 2017
Thursday's events consisted of the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Day one standings: 1. Stanford (220 pts) 2. USC (185 pts) 3. ASU (146 pts) 4. CAL (117 pts) 5. Utah (93 pts) 6. UA (62 pts)
Day 2: Sun Devils have ‘mixed bag’ day, but still able to stay strong
The ASU men took the pool for the second day of Pac-12 Championships on Thursday. Although the team swam well, head coach Bob Bowman said the men still need more consistency.
“All in all today was a bit of a mixed bag with lots of best times in the morning and a little nervousness from our freshman at night,” Bowman said.
500 Freestyle, 200 IM, and 50 freestyle prelims for this morning. 200 freestyle relay will swim in finals! #Pac12Swim #GoDevils pic.twitter.com/mmgDxXb1fy
— ASU Swimming&Diving (@ASUSwimDive) March 2, 2017
At the end of the night, the Sun Devils ended up falling from third to fourth place just behind California.
Freshman Cameron Craig did his best to keep the team moving up with his fourth place finish in the 200-yard individual medley (1:42.76).
Craig was also a part of the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay team that broke a school record, placed third and qualified for the NCAA Championships. The team consisted of Craig, junior Patrick Park, senior Richard Bohus and graduate student Andrew Porter.
Freshman Benjamin Olszewski swam his way to a seventh-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (4:19.80) and added 12 points to the Sun Devils’ end of the evening total (228). However, he did swim a faster time in the preliminary races earlier in the day (4:18.49).
The day was filled with ups and downs, but Bowman said he believes ASU sits in a position to have a great third day in Federal Way, Washington.
“The relay gave us the burst of energy we needed to be ready for a great day tomorrow,” Bowman said.
ASU will try to tasks back third place on Friday when the men swim the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke and 400-yard medley relay.
Up to date standings: 1. Stanford (387 pts) 2. USC (305 pts) 3. CAL (292 pts) 4. ASU (228 pts) 5. UA (126 pts) 6. Utah (114 pts)
Reach the reporter at atotri@asu.edu or follow @Anthony_Totri on Twitter.
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