Leon Marchand, Hubert Kos Lead Arizona State Over USC; Trojan Women Win
The firepower of the Arizona State men was on display Saturday as the Sun Devils hosted Southern California at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. ASU’s men won all but two swimming events in a 208-92 triumph, while on the women’s side, a balanced effort helped the Trojans earn a 189-111 victory.
Arizona State had two individual triple-winners in the meet, both individual world champions earlier this year. Leon Marchand scored wins in the 100 breaststroke (51.96), 200 breaststroke (1:52.70) and 100 butterfly (44.66). He fended off strong efforts from USC’s Chris O’Grady in both breaststroke distances while setting a new ASU school record in the 100 fly. Meanwhile, Hubert Kos placed first in the 100 backstroke (45.99), 200 backstroke (1:41.47) and 200 IM (1:42.71).
In the opening 200 medley relay, the team of Jack Dolan, Marchand, Ilya Kharun and Jonny Kulow scored the win by more than three seconds in a time of 1:22.37. Kharun split a blazing 19.30 on fly before Kulow came home in 18.60. Shortly thereafter, Kharun won a high-profile showdown in the 200 fly, which featured four of the top five swimmers in the country so far this season, with only Marchand absent. Kharun led wire-to-wire to take the win in 1:40.07, beating USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski (1:41.20), ASU’s Alex Colson (1:43.17) and USC’s Michal Chmielewski (1:43.52).
Additionally for ASU, Dolan doubled with wins in the 50 free (19.14) and 100 free (42.31), and Julian Hill clocked 1:33.51 to win the 200 free. The team of Dolan, Kulow, Patrick Sammon and Cam Peel dominated the 400 free relay in a time of 2:49.57, with Dolan leading off in 42.28 and Kulow splitting 41.68.
Krzysztof Chmielewski, the World Championships silver medalist in the 200-meter fly, was the only USC swimmer to place first in an event as he dominated the longer freestyle races. He clocked a time of 8:47.53 in the 1000 free before winning the 500 free in 4:18.08. In diving, USC’s Laurent Paradis topped the field in 1-meter (352.13) while Sean Wang won 3-meter (382.20).
In the women’s meet, the Trojans set the tone from the opening event and never looked back. The team of Caroline Famous, Kaitlyn Dobler, Anicka Delgado and Vasilissa Buinaia won the 200 medley relay by almost four seconds in 1:35.37.
Minna Abraham, a USC freshman from Budapest, Hungary, put together a breakout performance in the 200 free as she clocked 1:43.35, a time which already would have made the final at last year’s NCAA Championships. Abraham later won the 200 IM in 1:57.32 before the team of Buinaia, Abraham, Delgado and Claire Tuggle dominated the 400 free relay (3:15.52) to conclude racing.
Dobler, the 2022 NCAA champion in the 100 breast, dominated her signature stroke against ASU, winning the 100 in a blazing time of 57.61 before going 2:08.55 in the 200. Buinaia swept the sprint events, winning the 50 free in 22.35 while Famous (22.64) and Delgado (22.69) made it a 1-3 Trojans sweep. Next, Buinaia won the 100 free in 48.16 ahead of Abraham (48.65).
Famous won the 100 back in 51.48, and freshman Macky Hodges led a 1-2 finish with Famous in the 200 back, with Hodges going 1:54.92. Delgado claimed the win in the 100 fly (52.64), and in diving, Grace Lee won 1-meter (270.98) while Farrah Volpintesta topped 3-meter (284.33).
ASU’s Deniz Ertan topped the 1000 free in 9:33.07, and she won a tight duel with USC’s Tuggle in the 500 free. Tuggle actually led by a quarter-second with 50 yards remaining before Ertan closed in 27.31 to secure the win in 4:42.01, just ahead of Tuggle’s 4:42.12. Lindsay Looney, a World Championship finalist in the 200-meter fly this year, won the yards version of her best event in 1:54.92.