Standout George Mason University freshman Kyle Sockwell has decided to transfer to Arizona State, he announced on his Twitter account earlier this week, after one year with the Patriots.
Sockwell, an Austin native who swam for Texas Gold, finished 5th at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships in the 200 IM in his first year of collegiate swimming with a 1:50.01. He attended Westwood High School just outside of Austin.
Aside from that 200 IM, Sockwell also has promise in the 200 backstroke (he was a 1:49.95 in high school, and failed to eclipse his best time as a freshman), and the breaststroke races (he was a 57.6 in the 100 as a high school junior, but again hasn’t been better than that result since.) His breaststroke especially could flourish under the leadership of Arizona State head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker. As a swimmer herself she was a world-class breaststroker, and her best swimmer yet at Arizona State was breaststroker Rebecca Ejdervik.
Sockwell, if he can improve after his transfer, has a chance to be an immediate scorer at Pac-12’s in the 200 breaststroke. His best time last year of 2:02.36 would’ve put him into the B-Final at Pac 12’s. In the 200 IM, last year, it took only a 1:50.68 to make it back into the C-Final (though it was a significant leap from there into the scoring B-Final.) He also would have placed in the C-Final last year if he repeated his best 100 breaststroke time.
This is the second-straight season that the Arizona State men have picked up solid transfers; last year, it was NCAA All-American Alex Coci from Alabama. This is a team that has a big need to rebuild numbers; in the 2011-2012 season, their men’s team had 30 athletes on their roster, and in 2012-2013 that number was reduced to just 21.
Yeah Kyle!!!!
Good Luck Kyle!! I am sure that he will do well with Dorsey and the rest of the coaching staff!