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Israel native and World Junior Championships finalist Aukan Goldin has verbally committed to the University of California for the 2026-2027 season.
I am very excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at the University of California, Berkeley! I want to thank my family, coaches and teammates for supporting me. I would also like to thank the amazing staff at Cal for this amazing opportunity. Go Bears!!🐻 🔵🟡
Goldin represented his home nation of Israel at the World Junior Championships (LCM) this summer, where he ended competition with a pair of top-six finishes. His best showing came in the 200 backstroke, where he swam a lifetime best 1:58.64 en route to a placing 5th. He also finished 6th in the 100 back (54.70) after setting a best time of 54.44 in the semis.
In December of 2024, Goldin had one of his best short course performances at the Israel Short Course Championships. There, he set best times in the 50 back (24.36), 100 back (52.43), 200 back (1:52.54), and 200 free (1:47.51).
Cal’s Associate Head Coach David Marsh has long been linked to Israeli swimming, having joined Israel’s Olympic coaching staff ahead of the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo and serving as a Professional Adviser to the Israeli Swimming Federation.
Cal was also the school of choice for Israeli 2024 Olympian Leah Polonsky, who spent four years with the Golden Bears. She competed in four consecutive NCAA championships, with a highlight of a fourth place finish at the 2025 NCAA Championships in the 200 IM.
Goldin’s Best Times Converted to SCY:
| Event | Time | SCY Conversion |
| 100 Back (LCM) | 54.44 | 47.96 |
| 200 Back (LCM) | 1:58.64 | 1:44.72 |
| 200 Free (SCM) | 1:47.51 | 1:36.85 |
| 100 Fly (LCM) | 56.87 | 49.97 |
The Cal men were victorious at the 2025 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships last season.
Based on Goldin’s converted best times, he would have finished 40th in the 100 back, 38th in the 200 back, and 42nd in the 200 free.
Goldin’s repertoire is limited, but with those specialties, he is productive. With reps in a yards format, Goldin could find himself within scoring position early in his collegiate career.
With the track record of Cal backstrokers, Goldin may be one of those next names that benefit from head coach Dave Durden’s development.
Goldin joins Jordan Ragland, Tim Wu, Albert Smelzer, and Baylor Stanton in the Golden Bears’ 2026 recruiting class.
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Those conversions are ludicrous. A 54.4 backstroke is equal to at least a 46-low, a 1:58.6 backstroke is equal to at least a 1:40-ish, and a 1:47.5 200 free is equal to at least a 1:33-flat. And that’s being conservative, if anything. Yes, I know, depends on the individual swimmer’s underwaters etc, but at that level, especially as a backstroker, you have to figure he has at least decent underwaters.
I don’t know why it’s been so long since the backstroke conversions have been updated. They’ve been ludicriously incorrect for years. Surely someone who likes crunching numbers could download some data from USA Swimming and create better conversions.
I’m with you, but just pointing out the 200 free is SCM
To your point – he has faster LCM backstroke times than Baylor Stanton, who is the best SCY backstroker in the class.
No chance he has undies like Stanton.