Herbie Behm on Eddie Reese Showdown: “It’s… the best training we’ll ever get”

2025 EDDIE REESE SHOWDOWN

Arizona State showed out at the Eddie Reese Showdown, winning numerous individual events and sweeping the men’s relays. First year head coach Herbie Behm was pleased with his teams performance, noting they also had a handful of new NCAA qualifiers.

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MigBike
1 month ago

A nice and deserving article about Coach Behm. ASU is fortunate to have such an amazing person at the helm of the program. While not a fan of ASU, it is good to recognize excellence across our sport and conferences.

Real Shane Tusup!
1 month ago

Riding success of Bowman until it peters out. They rested a lot too.

swimgeek
Reply to  Real Shane Tusup!
1 month ago

This season has already disproven this theory…

Hank
1 month ago

How’s MA developing? What is his event schedule looking like for LCM Worlds trials? Anything besides 50s and 100BR?

Walsh-Madden-Grimes-Weinstein
1 month ago

The best training would be to simulate the NCAA Championships, heats in the morning, finals in the evening for at least three of the four days. None of this preordained bull crap.

swimgeek
Reply to  Walsh-Madden-Grimes-Weinstein
1 month ago

Yes. They should actually simulate NCAAs for 4 days every single week so that when they get to late March, they’re really super duper ready.

Last edited 1 month ago by swimgeek
Walter
Reply to  swimgeek
1 month ago

We know relay names guy has never been to real school.

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  swimgeek
1 month ago

Actually….

2Fat4Speed
1 month ago

I glad that ASU did not fall off with Bowman leaving. and appear to have a very healthy program moving forward. 15 years ago this was a team that was cut. I have no connection to ASU but I love their story and hope it can be an example for ADs around the country.

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  2Fat4Speed
1 month ago

It usually takes 1-2 years after a good coach leaves to see if the new coach can continue at the same level. It seems pretty clear that Herbie is still doing well because many kids are still swimming well if not best times.

It does seem to show how much he was involved in the teams success last year. Some asst coaches have more to do with a team’s success than others, and it’s pretty clear that he was a big part of their success last year.

Aquatic Ursine
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
1 month ago

Kharun choosing to stay with him when he easily could have gone to Texas was a pretty big vote of confidence

Bob
Reply to  Aquatic Ursine
1 month ago

Kharun is a very loyal guy.Unusual in these times.Good for him..I,m old and impressed.

buckets
Reply to  Bob
1 month ago

From all accounts, Kharun is a very strange/unique cat and he probably needs to be with a Herbie who has a bit more capacity to focus on one superstar. Bob has numerous Olympic medallists to manage, with one of them being the GOAT. It was a smart decision from Kharun and his people. The worry is: is Kharun swimming well off of Bowman’s last year’s training? Everyone in swimming knows the training from last year dictates your current form. Is Herbie doing too much sprint with him?

I agree that jury is out on Herbie until 2 seasons after Bowman. But for now, he’s doing a great job as a first year HC.

JimSwim22
Reply to  buckets
1 month ago

Bowman is still focused on Phelps?

mds
Reply to  buckets
1 month ago

Pretty sure ‘buckets’ is referencing a more modern GOAT; after his ASU takeoff into Paris, use of the term GOAT no longer speaks of Phelps but rather of Leon.

thatguy
Reply to  mds
1 month ago

do you know what that acronym stands for? specifically the A and T?

HeGetsItDoneAgain
Reply to  2Fat4Speed
1 month ago

Behm and ASU will be irrelevant in 3 years when the bowman influence is completely out of the system

MIKE IN DALLAS
Reply to  HeGetsItDoneAgain
1 month ago

An interesting prediction. . . . please keep us posted on the decline — or further rise. .. .

Frank Wilson
1 month ago

ASU Sun Devil men’s performance in the relays was incredible!

MIKE IN DALLAS
1 month ago

I suspect that the larger story is the total dominance of the Longhorns this season in all of their dual/tri/etc. meets. They are set up very well, I think, for NCAA championships next month.

Riley
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
1 month ago

Man Texas fans are insufferable lol. There has been plenty of Swimswam real estate devoted to the Longhorns and their accomplishments this season that you can go goon to. This is a story about a rookie head coach who is doing a great job with a somewhat awkward hand he was dealt and I’m happy the team is succeeding.

For guys like Kulow it made sense to stay since they were clearly flourishing under Herbie but it took cojones for Kharun to stay when his ceiling is multiple Olympic golds and maybe LCM WRs and his departing coach developed the butterfly GOAT. The butterflies are going to be barnburners at NCAAs.

MIKE IN DALLAS
Reply to  Riley
1 month ago

The last time I checked, the article directly referenced a Longhorn swim meet, ergo, comments from Longhorn fans. Friend, deal with it. We UT fans are everywhere and we are agents of a foreign power in Austin working for world dominance in swimming!

Andrew
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
1 month ago

I hate Texas fans so much

Almost as insufferable as Cal fans tbh

Old Swim Coach
Reply to  Andrew
1 month ago

So, to be clear, you hate Cal fans most. Are Texas fans the second most hated group in your eyes? What is your top 5? Asking for a friend.

snailSpace
Reply to  Old Swim Coach
1 month ago

I’m brave enough to ask for myself. Any Andrew lore is bound to be interesting.

MIKE IN DALLAS
Reply to  Old Swim Coach
1 month ago

May I suggest that ‘ranking hate” is not a good look?

Bobthebuilderrocks
Reply to  Andrew
1 month ago

The funny thing is all of the the Andrew comments from a couple years ago praising Texas

Andrew
Reply to  Bobthebuilderrocks
1 month ago

That was because Eddie was my favorite coach all time and Schooling/Conger/Licon were my favorite trio of swimmers ever on the same team

Unfortunately those days of developing American athletes at Texas are long gone

Horninco
Reply to  Andrew
1 month ago

Which tracks perfectly with your statement that American born Kyle Peck, who has dropped 2 seconds in the 100 fly since arriving at Texas, would swim slower at NCAA’s

Carry on

swimgeek
Reply to  Andrew
1 month ago

Ah, that famous American Joseph Schooling

Horninco
Reply to  swimgeek
1 month ago

Cesar Cielo, Jordan crooks, bjorn seelinger, vin Lanza, Leon Marchand …..

this is fun!

some of you need to pull your heads out. This isn’t new 😅😅

mds
Reply to  swimgeek
1 month ago

He may have been born elsewhere, but from at least 2009 he was developed in Florida and then Texas.

MIKE IN DALLAS
Reply to  swimgeek
1 month ago

Ouch! Not nice. . . .

Horninco
Reply to  Andrew
1 month ago

We love that you hate us 🙂

Texan
Reply to  Andrew
1 month ago

When you start out wanting to agree with Riley that this article was not about Texas and we didn’t need to try and make it so, and then you see that Andrew hates us less than Cal and feel insulted. I want us to be at the top of Andrew’s hate list.

MIKE IN DALLAS
Reply to  Andrew
1 month ago

I try not to “hate” anyone, but speaking of insufferable. . . . .

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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