Feb. 22, 2005
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This Week
For the swimming and diving teams, everyone is in action this week except the men's swimmers as the Pac-10 Championships get underway. The No. 15 women's swimming team and both diving teams travel to Federal Way, Wash. to take part in their conference championships February 23-27.
Women at the Pac-10s
With a total of 863 points, the Sun Devil women earned their highest conference finish since the 1995 season, placing fifth at the 2004 Pac-10 Women's Swimming Championship held in Long Beach, Calif. Winning her first conference title was junior All-American Florencia Szigeti who turned in an exceptional effort in the 200 freestyle and broke her own school record she set earlier that day in the preliminaries. Szigeti also finished fourth in the 100 free and sixth in the 50 free. Junior All-American Ágnes Kovács placed second in the 100 breast, third in the 200 breast and fourth in the 200 IM while junior Cara DeVinny finished eighth in the 400 IM. This year's meet begins Wednesday night at 6 p.m. PST. The rest of the days will feature preliminaries at 11 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
Divers at the Pac-10s
The men's and women's diving teams compete Thursday through Saturday at the Pac-10 Diving Championships. The women's diving scores will be added to the women's total score at the Pac-10 Championships held concurrently in Long Beach. The men's diving scores will be added to the total at the Pac-10 Men's Swimming Championships held next week in Long Beach. The diving teams had exceptional meets last year at the Pac-10s led by Joona Puhakka who claimed conference titles on both the 1m and 3m. He was named the Pac-10 Diver of the Year for the second year running Trisha Tumlinson won her first Pac-10 titles, claiming top honors on platform and the 3m. Tumlinson was named the 2003-04 Pac-10 Diver of the Year.
Breaking Records
Junior All-American Joona Puhakka set two new school-records in as many days in meets against Stanford (Jan. 21) and California (Jan. 22). Puhakka returned to dual meet action against Stanford for the first time since November bettering his previous school-record in the 1-meter springboard event with a 403.58. The reigning NCAA champion broke his second-school record in as many days, destroying the school record in the 3-meter event that he set in a dual meet against USC earlier this season by more than 51 points, scoring a 449.48. Senior All-American Trisha Tumlinson set a new school-record on the platform event at the Texas Invitational with a score of 471.80
Pac-10 Swimmer and Diver of the Month
Arizona State University senior diver Trisha Tumlinson earned the Sun Devils first Pac-10 Diver of the Month honor for the month of December. Tumlinson attained a personal best score of 471.80 on the platform at the University of Texas Invitational on Dec. 2-4, good for second place in the event. She also took second in the one-meter springboard with a score of 303.10 and third in the three-meter springboard (490.30). Freshman Caitlin Andrew followed up as the Pac-10 Co-Swimmer of the Month for January. Andrew had individual wins against California and Stanford. She won the 100 butterfly against Cal in 54.0 seconds. Andrew took the 100 back in 54.9 seconds against Cal and in 55.8 versus Stanford. All three times qualified for NCAA consideration. Andrew was also a member of the Sun Devil 200 medley relay team that beat California, swimming the 50 fly split in 24.0 seconds.
Freshmen Connection
The Sun Devils have welcomed the addition of several freshman to this year's squad. Heading into the Conference and NCAA Championships, the freshman look to step up and make an impact for ASU. For the women, Caitlin Andrew and Sarah A Fischer have stepped into leading rolls for the ASU squad. Andrew heads into the Pac-10 Championships with the nation's eighth -fastest time in the 100 butterfly and has dominated the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke events throughout the season. She also has an integral role in both the freestyle and medley relays. Fischer has lead the Sun Devils in the distance events this season with the season's top times in the 500 and 1650 freestyle events. Ellis Schieman has seen action in the freestyle events and the butterfly events for the ASU women, claiming the season top time in the 200 butterfly. For the men, CJ Nuess and Lucas Azevedo lead the way. Nuess has had an impact for the Sun Devils in the breaststroke, butterfly and IM events holding the season top-time in the 400 IM and has the second fastest time in the 200 butterfly event. Azevedo has dominated the distance events for ASU this season, swimming NCAA consideration times in the 500 and 1650 freestyle events and has the season's top-times in those events for the Sun Devils.
ASU In The Polls
In the final poll released by the CSCAA for the 2004-05 season, the women jump a spot to 15th. For the complete poll, visit www.cscaa.org.
ASU, Last Time in the Pool
The Arizona State University men's and women's swimming and diving teams were last in the pool February 12, taking on the University of Arizona at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. The women were led by senior All-American Agnes Kovacs who swam to three individual first-place finishes on the afternoon. Kovacs took top honors in the 100 breaststroke (56.15), 200 breaststroke (2:14.17) and 200 IM (2:03.19) for the Sun Devils. Freshman Caitlin Andrew took second-place honors in the 100 backstroke for ASU in a time of 56.15 and swam to the Sun Devils fastest time in the 100 butterfly (55.24). Junior Heidi Schmidt finished in second, behind Kovacs, in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.86). In the 1000 freestyle, junior Kathryn Hennessy (10:14.34) and freshman Ellis Schieman (10:29.06) took second and third, respectively. In the diving pool against Arizona, senior All-American Trisha Tumlinson swept the diving events in her last dual meet as a Sun Devil. In the 1-meter event, Tumlinson took the top honor with a score of 281.25 and claimed first-place with a score of 287.63 in the 3-meter event. The men were led by top performances by junior All-American David Kolozar, freshman CJ Nuess and junior All-American Joona Puhakka. The Sun Devils were led off in the pool by a second-place swim in the 1000 freestyle by freshman Lucas Azevedo (9:41.48). Kolozar followed Azevedo in the 200 freestyle, touching the wall in a time of 1:40.88 for a second-place finish. Kolozar hit the water again in the 200 butterfly, taking first-place in a time of 1:48.70 while teammate Nuess claimed second-place in 1:52.22. Nuess followed up in the 200 breaststroke, leading the way for the Sun Devils with a time of 2:03.76. Kolozar saw action in the 500 freestyle, claiming ASU's top time in that event with a time of 4:33.55. Nuess took to the water one more time for the Sun Devil men, touching the wall in second-place in the 200 IM with a time of 1:53.71. Puhakka led the way for the men in the diving pool, taking top honors in the 1-meter event with a score of 367.35 and finished second in the 3-meter with a score of 366.74.
Follow The Action Online
The women's Pac-10 Championships in Federal Way are being hosted by Oregon State. OSU's Pac-10 Championships webpage can be accessed through www.osubeavers.com or the webpage's direct address (http://osubeavers.collegesports.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/pac-10-swim-champ-05.html). The site contains links to updated information on all competing teams and will have updated event results as soon as they are available for posting on the web.