Courtesy: Cal Athletics
FRIDAY, FEB. 2
CAL (5-0, 3-0 PAC-12) AT NO. 7 USC (6-0, 3-0) | 1 P.M. PT | UYTENGSU AQUATICS CENTER | LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
LIVE STREAM: PAC-12.COM | LIVE RESULTS: MEET MOBILE
SATURDAY, FEB. 3
CAL AT UCLA (5-1, 3-1 PAC-12) | 11 A.M. PT | SPIEKER AQUATICS CENTER | LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
LIVE RESULTS: MEET MOBILE
The California women’s swimming & diving team takes its final road trip of the regular season this week when it travels south to meet USC on Friday and UCLA on Saturday for a pair of Pac-12 dual meets. Live results will be available on the Meet Mobile app and the meet against the Trojans will be live-streamed.
The Golden Bears (5-0) are coming off a dominant weekend against the Arizona schools two weeks ago when they registered resounding dual meet victories and broke some pool records in the process. Cal also recorded a couple of national and program top-10 times.
SPIEKER SUPERLATIVES: The Bears set three pool records during their dual meet against Arizona State earlier this month at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Senior Isabelle Stadden established new marks in the 100-yard backstroke (50.55) and 200 back (1:50.58) while junior Mia Kragh set a new pool standard in the 100 butterfly (51.30). Kragh’s mark in the 100 fly is also the eighth-fastest time in the nation in the event this season.
TOP 10S: Cal has a handful of times that ranked among the top 10 nationally this season. In addition to Kragh’s mark in the 100 fly, Stadden has the No. 1 time in the country this season in the 200 back at 1:49.21 and is No. 3 in the 100 back at 50.26. The Bears also have three relays that have registered top-10 times nationally this season – 200 medley relay (5th -1:34.23), 800 freestyle relay (9th – 7:01.70) and 400 medley relay (10th – 3:30.56).
MOVING ON UP: Several Cal swimmers have reeled off times this season that have put them among the program’s all-time top-10 leaders in different events. That includes two in the 200 breaststroke, as junior Alicia Henry now ranks fifth all time at Cal with a time of 2:08.84 with graduate transfer Hannah Brunzell right behind at 2:09.70). Fifth-year senior Rachel Klinker’s time of 1:53.77 in the 200 butterfly is the program’s seventh best ever, while freshman Katharyn Hazle recorded the Bears’ eighth-fastest mark ever in the 400 individual medley at 4:08.70).
DIVE RIGHT IN: Freshman Caroline Li and Ariana Drake each won diving events during Cal’s dual meet against Arizona State, marking the first time a Cal women’s diver has won an event since Briana Thai three seasons ago. Li took the 1-meter event with a score of 247.73 while Drake finished first in the 3-meter at 307.35. Drake’s winning score ranks eighth all time at Cal. Drake also took second place in both events against Arizona.
OTHER-WORLDLY: Following this weekend’s events, Rachel Klinker will travel to Doha, Qatar, to represent Team USA at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships. Klinker will race in the 200 butterfly Feb. 14-15 at the Aspire Dome.
NEW-LOOK STAFF: The Bears have a new look on deck this season with the addition of associate head coach Josh Huger and assistant coaches Kim Williams and Noah Yanchulis. Huger spent the past four seasons at Tennessee, whose women’s program finished in the top 10 nationally every year he was there. Last year, he helped the Vols’ men’s program to a seventh-place finish – its best in seven years. Huger also helped coach Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks, the 2023 SEC Swimmer of the Year, to the 2023 NCAA championship in the 50 free. Williams was a three-time NCAA champion and six-time All-American as a swimmer at Stanford who spent last season as a volunteer assistant coach at Northwestern. Yanchulis spent the past five years on the coaching staff at Division II Oklahoma Christian and was a two-time Big East Most Outstanding Swimmer as a student-athlete at Seton Hall.
ON THE MARK: The Bears recently won the Newmark Award for large women’s teams at Cal, given annually to the program with the best cumulative GPA on campus. The awards are broken up by gender and size, and the Bears had the top cumulative GPA of any women’s team at Cal that features a roster of at least 25 student-athletes. The Newmark Awards were established in 2007 by Pat and Kent Newmark in an effort to recognize team academic success at Cal.
SCHOLARLY SWIMMERS: The Bears have been named a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team for 27 straight semesters. Last season, Cal had 14 student-athletes earn spots on the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team. Student-athletes who earned at least a 3.5 grade point average and participated at their national championship were named to the first team. Those who had a 3.5 GPA and achieved a “B” time standard for their national championship or participated at a diving zone qualification meet were named to the second team.
