Two of the three programs eliminated from Arizona State’s athletic budget resume competition this month. Apparently, the Sun Devils’ resurrected swimming and diving program still faces an uphill climb toward permanence.

(Photo of Luke Herlehy courtesy Arizona Republic.)

It’s been six months since Lisa Love announced Arizona State was eliminating three programs from the athletic budget. Men’s tennis did not survive. But wrestling and men’s swimming and diving secured enough private funding to resume competition when their seasons kick off this month.

The wrestling program was fully endowed just 10 days after the announcement and didn’t lose a single wrestler due to the budget cut. (We wrote about the state of the resurrected wrestling program earlier.)

As the Arizona Republic recounted over the weekend, men’s swimming had a tougher go of it. Coach Mike Chasson lost five top recruits and three team members as private donations slowly trickled in. But the team eventually managed to secure enough funding to compete through the 2011-12 season.

Fundraising efforts are still underway. The team now has a fundraising Website and it will host its first Arizona State Swimming Dinner Gala featuring keynote speaker Jason Lezak next month. (You may remember Lezak swimming the final leg of the U.S. Olympic team’s 4x100m freestyle win over France.)

The Sun Devils return to the pool for a meet against USC and UCLA November 14 in Los Angeles. Leading the way will be Micky Benedetti (diving), Sean Boyle (butterfly, freestyle), Ante Cvitkovic (backstroke), Collin Gladys (breaststroke, individual medley), Max Laney (backstroke) and Mohammed Madwa (sprint free).

The team lacks the depth it expected to enjoy, but Chasson said those who stuck with the program are ready for the season.

Quoth Chasson: “The guys that are here have come together. The attitude is excellent, now whether that is because of the group of guys we have or because of what happened, I can’t answer. We won’t let the whole episode be a factor or excuse.”

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Tags: Other ASU Sports , ante cvitkovic, collin gladys, lisa love, max laney, micky benedetti, mike chasson, mohammed madwa, sean boyle // Add Comment »