Courtesy: Cal Athletics
Cal hosts its final dual meet of the season on Saturday when the eighth-ranked Golden Bears battle No. 5 Stanford on Senior Day at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The action gets underway at 12 noon and admission is free. The competition will also be streamed live through CalBears.com. Last year, Isabel Ivey won three events – including Cal dual-meet records in the 100 backs and 100 free – to lead the Bears to a 178-117 victory at Stanford.
Six Cal seniors will be honored for their contributions to the program in a pre-meet ceremony: Elise Garcia, Isabel Ivey, Robin Neumann, Ema Rajic, Maddie Ward and Alicia Wilson. The group has helped Cal maintain its run of 15 consecutive top-5 NCAA Championships finishes – the longest current streak in the country – and captured the 2021 Pac-12 team title. Among their individual awards are:
- Elise Garcia: 2021 NCAA champion in 200 free relay
- Isabel Ivey: 2021 Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year; 2-time NCAA relay champ; 12-time Pac-12 champ
- Robin Neumann: 2021 Pac-12 200 free champ; 2016 Olympian; 2-time Academic All-American
- Ema Rajic: 2020 Tokyo Olympian; school-record-holder in 100 breast; 2019 NCAA relay champ
- Maddie Ward: Colorado State transfer set breaststroke records at CSU
- Alicia Wilson: 2020 Tokyo Olympic finalist in 200 IM; 2021 Pac-12 200 IM champ
LAST TIME OUT – BEARS STAY ON A ROLL AT USC, UCLA: Cal moved to 4-0 in dual meets since the start of the calendar year with a road sweep in Los Angeles Jan. 28-29, downing No. 10 USC, 157-137, and UCLA, 179.5-117.5. Against the Trojans, Isabel Ivey (100 free, 200 free) and Isabelle Stadden (100 back, 200 back) claimed two events apiece to lead the Bears. Cal finished 1-2 in the closing 400 free relay to clinch the outcome. The Bears then captured 10 of 14 swimming events at UCLA, including two each by Leah Polonsky (200 free, 400 IM) and Ayla Spitz (1000 free, 200 back).
BEARS NAMED A CSCAA SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICA TEAM AGAIN: Cal has earned Scholar All-America team status from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) for its fall academic performance for the 24th semester in a row – or every time the award has been presented. Individual awards will be presented in the spring. All time, 87 Golden Bears have received Scholar All-America recognition a total of 154 times, including 11 four-time honorees.
CHANGES TO TOP-10 LIST: At the Minnesota Invitational Dec. 1-4, Cal produced five times that made the school’s all-time top-10 list, with freshman Leah Polonsky doing so in three events. She now ranks sixth in school history in the 100 breast (1:00.23), ninth in the 200 breast (2:11.30) and seventh in the 400 IM (4:07.93). Alicia Wilson’s PR 2:09.82 in the 200 breast puts her fifth in the event, and the 200 medley squad of Isabelle Stadden, Ema Rajic, Isabel Ivey and Elise Garcia posted the sixth-fastest time at Cal (1:34.93).
IVEY NAMED PAC-12 SWIMMER OF THE MONTH: Senior Isabel Ivey was named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month for December after a stellar meet at the Minnesota Invitational Dec. 1-4. She won two events (200 free, 1:43.13; 200 IM, 1:53.90), placed second in another (100 free, 47.57), and helped all five relays earn NCAA automatic qualifying times. Ivey’s individual times put her third in the country in the 200 free and 200 IM and fourth nationally in the 100 free. She is the reigning Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year and anchored Cal to an NCAA championship in the 200 free relay last March.
STADDEN, WEITZEIL COMBINE FOR 7 MEDALS AT SHORT-COURSE WORLDS: Cal sophomore Isabelle Stadden and alum Abbey Weitzeil combined for seven medals at the FINA Short-Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi Dec. 16-21. Stadden claimed a bronze medal in the 200m back (2:02.20), while Weitzeil tied for Team USA honors with six medals among her 10 top-10 finishes – two gold, three silver and a bronze. He top individual result was a bronze medal in the 100m free, with the other medals coming in relays.
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