Trenton Julian is a competitive swimmer who represents the United States internationally. He is a 5x world champion and 2x NCAA team champion as a part of the Cal bears.
Trenton’s mother, Kristine Quance, was a 1996 Olympic gold medalist with the United States’ 400 medley relay team while Julian’s father, Jeff Julian, was on the U.S. National Team. Julian attended Glendale high school, where he not only earned MVP Honors on the swim team all 4 years, but set 6 school records in the process. In 2016, he earned Olympic Trials cuts in the 100 & 200 Fly and the 200 & 400 IM.
Julian was ranked #15 in SwimSwam’s Top 20 Recruits in the Boys Class of 2017 and on November 14, 2016, announced his verbal commitment to swim at Cal Barkeley. 25% of SwimSwam’s Top 20 in this class committed to Cal and they would go on to bring 2 NCAA team title back to Berkeley over their 5 years on campus.
College (Cal)
2017-2018
In his freshman season, Trenton made an immediate impact. At the PAC-12 Championships, he placed third in the 200 fly (1:41.69), fifth in the 200 IM (1:44.04) and 200 free (1:34.62), and was part of Cal’s sixth place 400 free relay.
At the NCAA Championships a month later, Julian finished seventh in the 200 fly (1:40.81), 27th in the 200 free (1:34.65), 31st in the 200 IM (1:44.37).
2018-2019
In his sophomore season, Julian continued to improve as well as broaden his event repertoire. He was runner-up in the 200 fly (1:41.74) and 500 free (4:13.61) at the Pac-12 Championships, and also finished fourth in the 200 free (1:34.37). At the same meet, Julian was a part of Cal’s Championship garnering 800 free relay.
At the NCAA’s, Julian placed fifth in the 400 IM (3:39.83), sixth in the 200 fly (1:40.94) and ninth in the 500 free (4:11.30), helping Cal to their 4th NCAA team title in 9 seasons. He was again part of Cal’s 800 free relay, which finished 3rd overall.
2019-2020
At the 2020 Pac-12 Championships, Julian won the 200 free (1:33.17), and placed 2nd in the 500 free (4:12.77) and 200 fly (1:40.78).
The 2020 NCAA Championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020-2021
At the 2021 Pac-12 Championships, Julian won the 500 free (4:09.49) and 200 fly (1:38.53), and got 2nd in the 200 free (1:32.29). He also helped Cal to a Pac-12 title in the 800 free relay.
During his senior year at NCAAs, Julian placed 4th in the 500 free (4:09.78), 3rd in the 200 free (1:31.55), and 2nd in the 200 fly (1:38.85). He also helped Cal to a 2nd place finish in the 800 free relay and 2nd place overall team finish in the meet.
2021-2022
At his 5th year NCAAs, Julian placed 2nd in the 200 fly (1:39.00) and 7th in the 200 IM (1:40.47) and 200 free (1:31.80). He also helped Cal to an NCAA title in the 400 medley relay, tie for 3rd in the 200 medley relay, and 4th in the 800 free relay. His contributions were a valuable part of Cal taking the overall NCAA team title.
National/International
2019 World University Games
At the 2019 WUGs in Italy, Julian helped team USA to a gold medal in the 4×200 free relay. Splitting 1:46.99 on the 3rd leg to bring them ahead of Italy, who they were trailing after 2 legs, Julian gave the lead over to Zach Apple, who anchored the relay to first place. Julian also swam the 200 fly, where he finished 13th overall.
2022 World Championship Trials
Julian started his meet in Greensboro on a high, hitting a PB in the 200 fly on night 1 of 1:54.22 to touch for 2nd, making his first major LCM international team for USA. On night 2 of competition, Julian placed 4th in the 200 free, adding the 4×200 free relay to his world champs event lineup.
2021 Short Course World Championships
In Abu Dhabi, won his first ever world title, helping team USA to gold in the 4×200 free relay. He also swam the fly leg on the prelims relay of the 4×50 medley, which would go on to win gold in finals, and on the finals relay of the 4×100 medley relay, which won silver. Individually, he placed 4th in the 200 fly
2022 World Championships
In Budapest, Julian earned his first LCM world title, swimming the 3rd leg of the winning 800 free relay (1:45.31 split). He also earned silver in the 400 medley relay by swimming the fly leg in prelims. Individually, he advanced to the semi-final in the 200 fly and placed 16th.
2022 Short Course World Championships
At the 3rd meet in a year, Julian aided team USA to another gold in the 4×200 free relay, this time breaking the world record in the process (6:4412). He also swam the fly leg on the winning 4×100 medley relay and prelims legs on the 2nd place 4×50 medley relay and 3rd place 4×100 free relay. Individually, Julian placed 7th in the 200 fly.
