No. 6/18 Swim and Dive welcomes Bay Area Schools for Top-20 Tri-Meet

Tempe, Ariz. – No. 6/18 Sun Devil Swim and Dive returns to Mona Plummer Aquatic Center for a tri-meet, hosting No. 1/No.8 California Golden Bears and No. 9/No.4 Stanford Cardinal set for this Thursday and Friday. 

The competition will commence at 6 p.m. AZT/5 p.m. PDT on Thursday and resume on Friday at 11 a.m. AZT/10 a.m. PDT. 

The meet will not be livestreamed but can be followed on meet mobile  and followed on the team's Twitter/X account, @ASUSwimDive and on the team's Instagram @sundevilswimdive. 

Last time out:
The No. 6 Sun Devil men's team outpaced the No. 5 Wolfpack on Oct. 26, winning the dual meet 183-151 and the No. 18 ASU women's team fell in their first dual meet against No. 12 NC state.

Sophomore Ilya Kharun led the men's side by breaking his own in the 100 fly (43.95) and winning the 200 fly (1:38.74) The bronze medalist also helped the Sun Devils to win the 200 medley relay, 400 free relay, 400 medley relay and the 200 free relay, including swimming a 18.59 starting leg, tying an ASU record. 

Junior Andy Dobrzanski swept the 100 and the 200 breast, winning both races and also helped the Sun Devils win the 200 medley relay, and the 400 medley relay. Patrick Sammon won the 100 free (41.80) and Jonny Kulow (41.96) placed second respectively. Both times in the 100 free were the fastest in the country so far this season. Sammon also won the 200 free in 1:32.63.

Freshman Lucien Vergnes was a huge part in the victory by placing second in the 200 breast (1:54.31), third in the 100 breast (53.17), and third in the 200 IM (1:46.50). He also helped the Sun Devils to wins in the 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay.

Caroline Bentz and Deniz Ertan shined for the Sun Devil women, The Virginia Tech transfer broke school records, in the 50 free (21.88), in the 200 back (1:53.11) and in the 100 free (48.30) in the 400 free relay that placed third. 

For Ertan, she won three events contributing 31 points, winning the 500 free (4:40.19), 400 IM (4:10.83) and the 1000 free (9:37.96), and had a runner-up finish in the 200 fly (1:57.06). Emma Gehlert won the 200 breast with a time of 2:10.66.

Opponent Outlook:
The California Golden bears are the top men's tean in the country and defeated UC San Diego in a dual 389-167 in October and then won 10 of 20 events in the triple distance competition against Stanford. 

The Golden Bears women's team is ranked No. 8 in the country defeated UC San Diego 394-167,  then in the triple distance meet against No. 4 Stanford, they swept the backstroke events thanks to Isabelle Stadden.

In January, the Golden Bears tied with the Sun Devils 150-150 in their dual meet, and were runner-ups at NCAA Championships last season. On the women's side, they defeated the Sun Devils and placed 11th as a team at NCAA's.

The Stanford Cardinal have the No.4 ranked women's team in the country, highlighted by 2024 gold medalst Torri Huske. In the triple distance meet against California, they won 16 of 20 events. 

Last season, they defeated the ASU women and placed third at Pac-12 Championships, including a 5th place finish at NCAA Championships. 

On the men's side, the Stanford men are ranked No. 9 in the country and won 10 events in the triple distance event in October. In the 2023-24 season, they went 8-1 in dual meets with their only loss coming against ASU, the Cardinal were 2nd at Pac-12 Championships and was 8th at NCAA Championships last season.