Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.

ASU men's swim has remarkable year, women's team shows promising future

Sun Devils swimming had a historic season, thanks to Bob Bowman's first recruiting class

ASU prepares for Wildcats

Sun Devils swim and dive teams prepare for a dual meet against UA on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017.


The 2016-17 season for the men and women’s swim and dive teams revolutionized the Sun Devil's program. 

Although neither team finished in the top-10 of the NCAA Championships, there were unforgettable moments that will go down as some of the best in ASU swim history. This year, head coach Bob Bowman built the foundation for what is to come. 

Men's Team (Record: 4-2-1)

The men started the season hotter than anyone expected, winning all four of its first four meets.

Although the majority of the teams they competed against were considered easy victories, the USC meet was an unexpected win.

No Sun Devil team had beaten the Trojans in over five years.

The upset was partially thanks to All-American freshman Cameron Craig. Craig proved to be the men’s most valuable swimmer throughout the season.

However, Craig and the rest of the team cooled off after a brutally exhausting winter training. Bowman said winter training and all off-season workouts are vital to the team’s improvement.

“To try and take them to a new level, you have to take your training to a new level,” Bowman said.

Once winter training concluded, junior Christian Lorenz and senior Richard Bohus gave their all to help ASU come out and kick off the second half of the season with back-to-back upsets against No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Cal.

Lorenz and Bohus would get ASU closer to beating the Cardinal than any other Sun Devil team in recent history. An 18-point loss was not what the Sun Devils wanted, but they needed to switch gears in preparation for Cal the next day.

The men started off too slow against Cal and that eventually cost them the meet.

As the regular season began to wind down the men still had one final dual meet against their Arizona rival — UA. 

Graduate student and former Wildcat Andrew Porter said he looked forward to getting back in the pool to compete against his former team. Porter succeeded and placed first in the 100-yard butterfly and second in the 50-yard freestyle.

The men eventually tied the Wildcats.

After a promising, but ultimately rough second half of the season, the Sun Devils began working toward the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships.

At the Pac-12 Championships, ASU showcased its season-long improvement by breaking a school record each day of competition.

Craig captured the title of Pac-12 Swimmer of the Meet, while Bohus, Porter and Lorenz all qualified for the NCAA Championships.

ASU’s swimmers who qualified to perform on the national stage wrapped up their season remarkably.

The Sun Devils recorded 100 overall points and finished 14th with the help of their consistent relay teams.

The men's team ultimately had one of its best seasons in school history, with the help of a well-rounded group of athletes and coaches. However, the men will be losing Porter, Bohus and seniors Barkley PerryThomaz Martins and Tadas Duskinas to graduation.

Craig and Lorenz will need to step up even more as leaders to keep ASU competing at such a high level.

Bowman said with the amazing coaching staff and talent on the roster, the Sun Devils have a bright future.

“I can't thank our administrators, our coaches and our support staff enough for the incredible support, enthusiasm and hard work that all put into our program,” Bowman said. “It's a very special time to be Sun Devils.”

Women's Team (Record: 5-5)

The highlight of the women’s season was the impact the freshmen class had on the meets and team moral.

The women won three of their first five meets with the help of the smallest freshman on the team – Chloe Isleta.

At 5’1” freshman individual medley and backstroke specialist Chloe Isleta came out and shocked the swim community by nearly putting up double digit points in individual events in each of the first five contests.

Junior Christian Lorenz on the men’s team, who swims primarily breaststroke, said Isleta dominated her competition and will continue to do so.

“Chloe killed it, and Chloe is going to keep killing it,” Lorenz said. “She works so hard, so hard and shows off.”

However, Isleta didn't score enough individually to overcome the women’s two losses against the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Even with the two losses, the Sun Devils were already having a historic season. ASU had not started the season off 3-2 or better since 2011.

With the first five meets in the books, it was time for winter training.

Training during the month long break was in preparation for a difficult second half of the season, which included meets against No.1 Stanford and No. 2 Cal.

Several swimmers said winter training was the most grueling of their careers, but the women then came out in their first meet against Oregon State and won by 75 points.

Another high point for the women was the acquisition of freshman breaststroker Silja Kansakoski.

Kansakoski was one of the Sun Devils’ most dominate swimmers. However, no acquisition prevented losses to Stanford and Cal. 

The Sun Devils needed to quickly turn their attention to the rival Wildcats. 

A third straight loss was a heartbreaking way to end the season, but to alleviate the pain the women managed to have swimmers sophomore Marlies Ross and freshman Claire Fisch record personal bests in their events.

Next up for the women was the Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Washington.

The women had one of their best Pac-12 performances, even though they finished sixth overall.

It was again the freshmen in the spotlight, on the third day of competition alone freshmen Emily Glinecke, Ivana Ninkovic, Kendall Dawson, Isleta and Kansakoski combined for 105 points.

After the Pac-12 Championships the women headed to the NCAA Championships. Kansakoski said her most memorable moment of the whole NCAA competition was when the women were not swimming.

“We were back at the hotel with the girls, and we were playing a game. So just like that bonding moment,” Kansakoski said. “It was a nice way to relax and get to know each other better. It was so much fun.”

ASU only scored 22 points on the national stage.

The women are losing senior and Rio Olympian Kat Simonovic and senior co-captain Alysha Bush, who are graduating this year.

However, with such a strong group of young freshmen swimmers and Ross the women’s team will look to improve in the 2017-18 season.


Reach the reporter at atotri@asu.edu or follow @Anthony_Totri on Twitter.

Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.


Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.

Subscribe to Pressing Matters



×

Notice

This website uses cookies to make your experience better and easier. By using this website you consent to our use of cookies. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.