The House POYs: Emma Nordin

In the pool, junior Emma Nordin is the obvious choice for House of Sparky swimmer of the year.

She may as well sweep the awards table: with a four-second drop from her fifth-place finish at Pac-12s last year in the 500 freestyle, she’s a favorite for most improved, too.

The transition from the Carmel High School swim team in Indiana to ASU was not easy at first for Nordin, as she went on to add time in most of her events, and struggled early.

Fast forward two years and Nordin’s 4:33.74 ‘A’ cut is good enough for the fastest 500 freestyle time among women in NCAA Division I swimming. She finished in second place at Pac-12s in both the 200 freestyle and 1650 freestyle as well.

The 500 at NCAAs would have been ultra-competitive, with Nordin seeded .9 ahead of junior Paige Madden of Virginia, and two seconds ahead of senior Katie Drabot of Stanford, both possibles to win “Swimmer of the Meet” at NCAAs.

Nordin’s slip freshman year proved to be just that: a slip. She sprung forward in a sophomore surprise, sharing the role of the team’s fastest 200 and 500 freestyler with then-redshirt junior Cierra Runge.

Nordin’s senior season will be one of dominance in the Pac-12, with Abbey Weitzel of Cal, Katie Drabot of Stanford, and Kirsten Jacobsen of Arizona all graduating.

She’ll be a frontrunner for Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year if her improvements continue at the scale they have been this summer.