Cal Travels To Utah, Pacific
BERKELEY – California men's swimming & diving will take a two-pronged attack this weekend, sending half of the team to face Utah in a Pac-12 dual meet in Salt Lake City on Friday while the other half will head to the Pacific Invite in Stockton, California on Saturday.
Friday's dual meet against the Utes starts at 11:30 a.m. PT at the Ute Natatorium. The Pacific Invite, held at the Tigers' Chris Kjeldsen Aquatics Complex, will begin at 1 p.m. PT on Saturday.
Live results for both meets are expected to be available via the Meet Mobile app. The Pacific Invite will be streamed on the WCC Network.
LAST TIME IN THE POOL
Cal notched a convincing 168-94 dual-meet victory over ninth-ranked Virginia in front of a packed house at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley last Friday, Oct. 15. Despite the Cavaliers book-ending the meet with two relay victories, the Bears flexed their depth by winning 11 of the 12 individual events, including a pair by standouts Trenton Julian and Destin Lasco. Three newcomers – Will Roberts, Liam Bell and Gabriel Jett – recorded their first Cal victories as well.
Julian's two wins came in the 200-yard freestyle (1:35.54) and 100 butterfly (46.96), while Lasco touched first in the 200 backstroke (1:43.25) and 200 individual medley (1:46.60). Roberts, a fifth-year transfer from Michigan, earned Cal's first win of the night with a 9:13.71 in the 1000 free. Bell, an Alabama transfer, posted 52.49 to beat out teammate Reece Whitley in the 100 breaststroke; Whitley later won the 200 breast in 1:54.49. Jett won the 500 free in 4:28.20. Other Cal winners were Hugo González in the 100 back (46.49), Dare Rose in the 200 fly (1:46.35) and Björn Seeliger in the 50 free (19.70).
DUAL MEET STREAK
The Bears' 74-point win over Virginia on Oct. 15 extended their dual-meet win streak to 15, which dates back to Oct. 3, 2018. Cal hasn't lost a dual meet since Feb. 17, 2018 – a span of 1,342 days (as of Thursday, Oct. 21). Cal is 78-11 in dual meets under the guidance of head coach David Durden.
IN THE RANKINGS
Cal is ranked second nationally in the 2021-22 CSCAA preseason poll, which was released Thursday, Oct. 14. The Bears' 360 points rank behind Texas' 375.
OLYMPIC SUCCESS IN TOKYO
It was a successful summer for nine Bears at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, including eight swimmers and Cal head coach David Durden, who served as the United States Olympic men's swimming head coach and guided the American men to 12 total medals. Cal alumni Ryan Murphy (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) and Tom Shields (1 gold) brought home four combined medals for the U.S. while Cal's eight-man contingent amassed four individual finals, six individual semifinals and three relay finals across 11 events. Three Tokyo Olympians, Hugo González (Spain), Robin Hanson (Sweden) and Björn Seeliger (Sweden), are on Cal's 2021-22 squad.
THEY'RE BACK
Three standout Bears – Daniel Carr, Sean Grieshop and Trenton Julian – are back in Bear Territory after electing to use an NCAA waiver to compete collegiately for a fifth year. The trio has a combined 46 All-America certificates, 19 Pac-12 titles and one NCAA title (won by Carr on the 2021 200-yard freestyle relay) while having led Cal to the 2019 NCAA team title and four consecutive Pac-12 team titles dating back to 2018.
STAY POSTED
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