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Measured by national championships, national awards and Olympics success, the Pac-12 Conference has one of the most impressive legacies in collegiate swimming. Pac-12 schools own nearly a third of all NCAA Division I titles, with 25 NCAA team titles, and lead the nation with the most members to have won a team NCAA title with five (California, Arizona, Stanford, UCLA and USC).

The 2020 Pac-12 Men’s Swimming Championships will again feature some of the nation’s top swimming talent as all six Conference teams are ranked in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) poll. Leading the way is defending Pac-12 Champion CALIFORNIA at No. 2. The Bears are looking for their third-straight and seventh overall league title in Federal Way, Wash., this week. ARIZONA STATE enters at No. 10 nationally, ARIZONA is No. 13, STANFORD is No. 16 and USC is No. 21.

Divers from Arizona and USC helped their teams to the early lead in the Pac-12 Championships with top scores in last week’s diving competition. Wildcat freshman Bjorn Markentin took first on the platform, and recorded a third (375.95) and eighth place (341.15) score in the one-meter and three-meter, respectively, to help give Arizona 95 points going into week two. Scores from USC’s Georgii Korovin, Brad Dalrymple, Henry Fusaro, and Brad Dalrymple helped push the Trojans into the top spot, also with a 95-point total ahead of swimming .

Stanford’s Conor Casey took titles in the men’s one-meter and three-meter last week as the Cardinal’s 93 points puts it in third place. Utah is in fourth with 74 points, Arizona State is fifth with 47 points, and California is in sixth with 28 points.

ARIZONA: No. 13 Arizona started off its season with a four- dual-meet win streak, the programs best season start since 2011, and finished with a winning 5-4 overall record, its most wins since 2013. The Wildcats have a host of talent heading to Federal Way including junior Brooks Fail and senior Thomas Anderson who are both looking to win their first Pac-12 titles. Fail’s performance at the Minnesota Invitational (Dec. 4-7) earned him the Conference’s top times in the 500-yard freestyle (4:11.79) and 1650-yard freestyle (14:37.60) this season. Anderson has two top-three league finishes this year in the 100-year backstroke (46.03 and the 200-yard Individual medley

ARIZONA STATE: No. 10 Arizona State (4-3,3-2 Pac-12) finished their season with a historic win as then-No. 13 Sun Devils upset the then-No. 10 Wildcats (202-92) recording their biggest win since at least 1998. Sophomore Liam Bresette dominated in Tucson taking first in the in the 500 freestyle (4:20.51) and 200 Individual Medley (1:47.50), adding a personal-best second-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:35.10) and notching NCAA ‘B’ cuts in the 200 and 500 freestyles for the first time this season. Joining Bressette up north is sophomore Zachary Poti who is looking to defend his 2019 Pac-12 title in back stroke as his time currently leads the league (45.75)

CALIFORNIA: Five-time NCAA Coach of the Year (‘10-12, ‘14, ‘19) and 2020 U.S. swimming head coach David Durden led No. 2 California (6-0, 4-0 Pac-12) to another successful season as the Bears are one of two teams in the nation with a perfect record this season. The 2019 National and Pac-12 Champion is looking for its third-straight and seventh overall league title this week with a strong squad that hold 12 of the Conference’s best times this year. Leading the pack is senior Ryan Hoffer and sophomore Reece Whitley. Hoffer owns the league’s best times in the 50-yeard freestyle (18.98), 100-yard freestyle (42.25), 100-yard butterfly (45.46), and is a part of three relay teams looking to defend their 2019 Conference titles. Their times in the 200-yard freestyle relay (time) 200-yard medley (1:23.12) and 400-yard medley relay (3:03.89) are the Pac-12 top marks this season. 2019 Pac-12 Pac-12 Swimming Freshman of the Year Whitley also leads the conference in the 100-yeard breaststroke (51.50), 200-yard breaststroke (1:51.02), 200-yard individual medley (1:43.65). The sophomore set four pool records in Cal’s last competition of the season, breaking the 100-yard breastroke (52.77) and 200-yard breastroke (1:53.65) Spieker Aquatics Complex records in addition to swimming a 23.85 split on the second leg of the Bears’ pool record swim in the 200-yard medley relay (1:25.14)

STANFORD: No. 16 Stanford finished the season with a 4-1 overall record, 3-1 in Conference action. The Cardinal are looking to win its Conference leading 34th Pac-12 title this season with the help of its top performers led by Grant Shoults. The senior swimmer is looking to earn his earn his third Pac-12 title and set another championship record as he was the 2017 and 2018 500-yard freestyle champion and set the Pac-12 championship record with a time of 4:10.67 in the same event in 2017. This season, Shoult’s 500-yard freestyle time (4:12.74) is the second best in the league, and he was named Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week on Jan. 15th

USC: No. 21 The 21st-ranked Trojans look to impress at the Pac-12 Championships behind its standouts Alexei Sancov and Victor Johansson, both top Conference finishers. Two-time Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week Sancov’s hard work at the Art Adamson Invitational in November earned him the Conference’s best time in the 200-yard-freestyle (1:32.95), the second-best time in the 200-yard Individual Medley and the third-best time in the 200-yard butterfly (1:42.03). Johansson returns to Federal Way to defend his 2019 500-yard freestyle title, currently holding the league’s fifth-best time of 4:18.22 and the league’s second-best time in the 1650-yard freestyle (14:47.27).

UTAH: No. 25 Utah (3-4, 1-2 Pac-12) finished its season making pool history while recording an upset over No. 21 USC (164-91). Sophmore Tyler Klawiter set a new Don Reddish pool mark in the 1000-yard freestyle at 9:12.59 and Andrew Britton set a new pool standard in the 100-yard breaststroke (54.41). Utah made more history in the relays with Cooper DeRyk, David Fridlander, Liam and Finn O’Haimhirgins winning the 200-yard freestyle and setting a new pool record at 1:20.08, and Britton, Fridlander, DeRyk, and and Liam O’Haimhirgin matched the pool mark in 1:26.81 in the 200-yard medley relay. Britton’s time in the 100-yard breaststroke. (53.27) is the league’s fourth-best mark this year, Deryk’s 50-yard freestlye is the league’s sixth-best, Klawaiter’s 1650-yard freestyle time (15:00.73) is the league’s fifth-best, and Liam O’Haimhirgin’s 100-yard freestyle is also the fifth-best in the Conference.

TELEVISION AND LIVE STREAM COVERAGE:
Expanded live coverage of the Pac-12 Men’s Swimming Finals will air live on Pac-12 Washington and other regional networks and will be available to authenticated users on Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app from Wednesday, March 4 to Saturday, March 7.

HOW TO WATCH:
Wednesday, March 4
6:00 p.m. - 2019 Men’s Swimming Championships (Day 1)
Pac-12 Now app / Pac-12.com

Thursday, March 5
6:00 p.m. - 2019 Men’s Swimming Championships (Day 2)
Pac-12 Now app / Pac-12.com

Friday, March 6
6:30 p.m. - 2019 Men’s Swimming Championships (Day 3) (LIVE)
Pac-12 Arizona, Pac-12 Bay Area & Pac-12 Washington

Saturday, March 7
6:30 p.m. - 2019 Men’s Swimming Championships (Day 4) (LIVE)
Pac-12 Los Angeles & Pac-12 Washington