Pitchfork Aquatics Bringing Age-Group Swimming Back To Arizona State University Campus

Pitchfork Aquatics Mona Plummer Aquatic Center

Photo Courtesy: John Quick

By Jeff Commings, Swimming World Senior Writer

The Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex on the campus of Arizona State University has been without a USA Swimming team for two years, but the creation of the Pitchfork Aquatics program has ended that drought. The team will have Bob Bowman as one of its coaches and will include all levels from beginner to Olympian.

Pitchfork Aquatics was approved as an official club on August 7, according to USA Swimming. Pitchfork Board President Rob Richardson, an ASU alumnus from the Ron Johnson coaching era, had the idea to create the team last year. He officially moved forward with applying for team status once Bowman was hired as ASU head coach and decided to run his pro squad under the new team name.

“He (Bowman) wants to be a part of Pitchfork,” Richardson said. “He stepped out of the way and let us do our thing with getting the club going.”

The team’s website is bare-bones, though it should be filled soon with information regarding meet schedules and registration.

Bowman is already on deck with the elite team that includes postgrads Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt, as well as several athletes with collegiate eligibility remaining but sitting out this season to train for the Olympic Trials. Two Arizona State swimming alumni will be the top coaches for the age-group levels. Sam Hewson coached for more than 20 years in Colorado, and is returning to his alma mater to lead the new team. Alex Popa is a Romanian native who just completed her collegiate swimming eligibility and will work with the younger swimmers. More coaches could be added to the roster in the coming days and weeks.

Sun Devil Aquatics had been the USA Swimming team that called the Mona Plummer pool home for many years under the guidance of such notable names as Johnson and Mike Chasson. The team disbanded in December 2013 and merged with Mesa Aquatic Club to become one of the largest swim teams in Arizona. Dan Kesler was a part of the Sun Devil coaching squad when it folded, and could provide assistance in addition to his duties as college coach at ASU.

Pitchfork Aquatics will serve a wide range of swimmers, from those just learning to swim to those competing at the highest level. The team is finalizing details for a learn-to-swim program at the Sun Devil Fitness Complex at the ASU West campus, with a partnership with the Michael Phelps Swim School in the works as well.

The age-group team will swim at Mona Plummer, as will the elite squad. A new training group within Pitchfork Aquatics will be the “college development” team for ASU students not yet up to the standards of training with the ASU team. Swimmers in that group will be groomed to make the transition to the college team in the future. Richardson, one of the founders of the Sun Devil Swimming Association that helped save the college program, said he saw many such ASU students transferring to other schools in the past and representing those schools at the NCAA or conference championships a couple of years later.

“We think this is a nice gap that we think we can fill to capture some kids going to (ASU) right now,” Richardson said.

The application for membership to USA Swimming included just one swimmer, a former Sun Devil Aquatics member. The pro team already has about a dozen athletes, and the age-group team will be filled from the registration period, which started a few days ago. Richardson said the team will not actively recruit swimmers or coaches to join the team. He knows the double punch of having Bowman and Phelps associated with Pitchfork Aquatics will create a lot of interest, and believes the program will grow on its own merits.

“This is a ‘build it and they will come’ model,” Richardson said. “We (have) people who have over 100 years of competition and coaching experience. We’re only starting from scratch in that we have no swimmers, but if we build it, they will come. We think that’s going to happen.”

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