An overflowing crowd and roaring cheers from the bleachers signaled the beginning of ASU's swim season at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on Oct. 3.
ASU swim opened up its first meet of the season against UNLV much like it did last season — with a sweep on both the men's and women's teams. The No. 18 Sun Devil women's team dominated with a final score of 242-57, and the No. 3 Sun Devil men's team was close behind at 236-60.
Alexia Sotomayor, a freshman from Peru, made her debut with a personal best time of 1:55.44, winning the women's 200-yard backstroke. She finished second in the 100-yard backstroke behind teammate Miriam Sheehan.
"I went all my best times, and the energy up in the stands was amazing," Sotomayor said.
Alongside Sotomayor, freshman Hayden Hakes made an impressive Sun Devil debut with a win in the men's 200-yard backstroke at 1:43.26. He was joined by other freshmen Sun Devils Shane Golland and Noah Mudadu in their first-place finishes in the women's 100-yard freestyle and the men's 1000-yard freestyle.
Head coach Herbie Behm expressed great pride and optimism for this season's newest additions and their promising performances.
"I was super pleased with our freshmen and newcomers," Behm said. "(It was the) first time really seeing them race in this environment, and they all stepped up and performed."
Coming off a successful 2024-25 season and a title sweep at the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship, ASU's veteran swimmers continued their dominance in the pool.
Junior Ilya Kharun set a pool record in the 100-yard butterfly at 43.91, and both the men's and women's teams secured first-place wins in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Senior Jonny Kulow placed first in the men's 200-yard freestyle at 1:34.40, just off from his personal best time by 1.99 seconds.
"(There's) a lot of progress to be made personally, but I think as a team, we're in a phenomenal spot," Kulow said. "Everybody was going to town, lots of good energy, some really good swims."
Amongst these promising showings from ASU's swim program, one of the largest wins of the night took place in the stands.
With almost 3,000 spectators in attendance, the energy in the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center was undeniably electric. The number broke the all-time college swimming and diving event attendance record. Both the swimmers and Behm attribute some of their success to the overwhelming support from the ASU student body.
"To see close to 3,000 people here and excited, I can't even put into words what that means to me," Behm said.
Organized by CIS professor and honorary swim team captain Matthew McCarthy, thousands of ASU students flocked to the dual meet and cheered on their fellow Sun Devils from the bleachers. Painted faces, customized signs and ASU banners stretched across the stands and into the parking garages.
Despite desires to perform at a higher level among certain swimmers, the sheer number of individuals in attendance proved an amazing source of motivation during the meet. As these swimmers look to drive forward into the season with the same dominance they've had in the past, they hope to see the same energy from their fellow Sun Devils.
"This is beyond belief," Kulow said. "It was it was awesome. If we could have this rest of the season, there's no doubt in my mind we're gonna navigate (the season)."
Edited by Jack McCarthy, Senna James and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at bcsmit41@asu.edu.
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Brooklyn Smith is a sports reporter for The State Press and an English student at ASU. She is in her 1st semester with The State Press.
