Michal Chmielewski Breaks Santo’s USC Record, But Cal Men & Women Win the Day

USC Trojans vs. Cal Golden Bears

• January 16, 2026
• Uytengsu Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, California
• Long Course Meters (50 meters)
• Full Meet Results
• Team Scores:
  • Cal Women def. USC Women 156-144
  • Cal Men def. USC Men 178-122

A new USC School Record from Michal Chmielewski softened the blow of a dominant 178-122 win for the Cal Golden Bears men on Friday in Los Angeles, while a tough early DQ for a USC relay helped the Cal women sneak out a tight victory.

Men’s Meet

While the Cal men dominated the meet globally, winning 11 out of 16 events, junior Michal Chmielewski had maybe the best individual performance of the day on the men’s side.

The Polish-born swimmer won both of his individual events, including a new lifetime best and school record of 45.08 in the 100 fly. That broke the old mark of 45.12 that was set in 2018 by Canadian and Italian Olympian Santo Condorelli.

Chmielewski was previously #2 in school history after posting a 45.15 at the mid-season Texas Hall of Fame Invitational.

Traditionally more of a 200 butterfly specialist, he now climbs to 14th in the NCAA this season and 4th in the Big Ten this season in the 100 fly. While the swim is a positive one, it raises red flags for USC, which has had trouble with peaking at regular season meets, versus national championship meets, in prior seasons.

Chmielewski also won the 200 fly in 1:41.77 and split 44.49 on the fly leg of the team’s winning 400 medley relay (3:04.04), which is also a season-best time for the Trojans.

USC had the fastest split on three of the four legs in that relay over a Cal team that is in a down year relative to what we’ve seen for them over the last two decades. The exception was Yamato Okadome, the Japanese-born breaststroke leg, who split 50.39 to give the Golden Bears a chance.

Okadome also won the 100 breaststroke individually (51.70) and the 200 breaststroke by more than five seconds (1:50.77).

While USC had some good swims, including a lot of season bests, the Cal men were on a tear throughout the day.

Irishman Nathaniel Wiffen won the men’s 1000 free in 8:50.30. That’s a lifetime best for the first year collegiate, knocking 1.2 seconds off the split he swam en route to a 1650 free at the mid-season Minnesota Invite.

Krzysztof Chmielewski, Michal’s twin brother, finished 2nd in 8:56.33, which is a season-best for him.

Out of 12 individual swimming events at the meet on the men’s side, only three were won by U.S.-born athletes. Cal’s Keaton Jones won the 200 free (1:34.17) and 200 back (1:40.90), while Cal’s Freddy Klein won the 400 IM in 3:47.43.

The Cal men ended the meet with emphasis, going 1-2 in the 400 free relay. The “A” finished in 2:50.53 and the “B” finished in 2:51.98, with USC’s best effort placing 3rd in 2:53.70. Jones’ 42.16 anchor split for Cal led the field.

The teams split the diving events on the day.

Notable Results from Non-Event Winners:

• USC’s Thomas Olsen was 6th in the 1000 free in 9:08.69, which is a new lifetime best. He has dropped 7.3 seconds in total in that event this season versus last season and as a junior on Friday surpassed his high school best of 9:08.84 for the first time.
• USC’s Diego Balbi swam a personal best of 1:43.82 to finish 3rd in the 200 fly. Historically a much better sprint butterflier, that shows huge progress in the 200 even since the mid-season invite where he swam 1:46.73.

Women’s Recap

The women’s meet was a much more balanced affair throughout the day, with back-and-forth racing and a number of close finishes deciding the day.

Though the Trojan women were left in a tough spot after their 2nd place 400 medley relay was disqualified. While that only caused a net 6 point swing, it did put the Trojans in an early 15-2 hole.

The teams split the first few individual races. Cal freshman Ella Cosgrove opened up the register by holding off a hard charge from USC’s Claire Tuggle in the 1000 free. Cosgrove’s time was 9:40.58 versus a 9:41.02 from Tuggle, but Tuggle was 1.7 seconds better over the last 50. The top five finishers were all within three seconds.

Then USC’s star woman Mina Abraham returned the favor by winning a tight battle in the 200 free over Cal’s Mia West 1:41.69-1:41.74.

It was Cal’s turn again in the women’s 100 backstroke, where a 1-2 finish from Mary-Ambre Moluh (51.24) and Jessica Davis (53.55, PB) really swung the scoring in favor of the Golden Bears. While USC freshman Bella Brito won the next race, the 100 breast, in 59.85, a 2-3-4-5 finish for Cal allowed them to hold serve on the scoring.

But USC wasn’t done. They went on a run in the middle of the meet with Justina Kozan winning the 200 fly (1:54.90) and Abraham winning again in the 50 free (22.06). That’s a new personal best for the Hungarian Abraham and climbs her up to 7th place in the Big Ten this season.

Cal’s Ariana Drake broke the streak by winning the women’s 1-meter event, a bit of a flip-of-the-script with USC historically having the better diving program.

Cal then fought back with Mia West handing Abraham her only loss of the day, winning the 100 free 47.51 to 47.55. Another nail-biter came in the next race, the women’s 200 back, which Moluh won over Dora Molnar 1:53.48-1:53.49. Six of the women’s individual events came down to the touch on Friday.

The momentum again swung back in favor of USC with Bella Brito (2:10.22, 200 breatstroke), Justina Kozan (4:41.02, 500 free), diver Katie Miller (307.43, 3-meter), and Kozan again in her third individual win of the day (4:07.46, 400 IM) winning four of the last five events on the day. Only Annie Jia broke up that furious finish of USC, winning the 100 fly for Cal in 51.37.

That left the meet still in the balance going into the final relay, with Cal holding just a three point lead after the conclusion of the individual competitions. USC needed a 400 free relay win to take the day, and while the team’s matched up pretty well in different spots, Cal was just a bit deeper. The relay of Moluh (48.10), Lilou Ressencourt (48.71), Jia (48.01), and West (46.87) finished in 3:11.69. USC was about a second back in 3:12.66, including a 46.50 anchor from Abraham, to finish 2nd.

While not an event winner, one other notable result was USC’s Sage Miller, who finished 3rd in both the 100 fly (52.70) and 200 fly (1:56.30). Those are both lifetime bests for the freshman from Hawaii.