March 25, 2004
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. - The Arizona State men's swimming and diving team opened up the 2004 NCAA Championships Thursday night and were led by Joona Puhakka who placed third on the 1m springboard. Puhakka recorded a final round total of 373.40 after scoring an opening round total of 370.30. The team stands in 14th place with 22 points after day one.
Senior Nick Brunelli placed 11th in the 50m freestyle with a time of 22.10, less than a tenth of a second from winning the consolation final. Brunelli was four-hundredths of a second shy of making the championship final with a time of 21.98 in the morning preliminaries.
An amazingly fast first night of competition featured three world records (200 IM, George Bovell, Auburn, 1:53.93; 50 freestyle, Fred Bousquet, Auburn, 21.10; 400 medley relay, Texas, 3:25.38). Competition continues tomorrow and Saturday at the Championships.
Team Standings After Day 1: 1 Auburn 211 2 Stanford 113 3 Arizona 110 3 Texas 110 5 Florida 77 14 Arizona State 22