Cal’s Robin Hanson Time Trials a New Best Time in the 200 Free at ACCs

2025 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships

• February 18-22, 2025
• Greensboro Aquatic Center — Greensboro, North Carolina
• Full Event Schedule (pre-scratch timeline)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Streaming
• Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap |Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Recap | Day 4 Finals Recap
• Day 5 Prelims Recap | Day 5 Finals Recap

As the Cal men and Virginia women wrapped up their ACC Swimming & Diving Championships this weekend in Greensboro, both teams had highlight results from Time Trials on the last two days of the meet.

For the Cal men, senior Robin Hanson swam 1:31.87 in a 200 free on Friday evening after finals. Hanson finished 11th in the individual event, swimming 1:33.11 in prelims and 1:33.05 in finals. But after a few more days, the 23-year-old smoked a new best time swimming solo in a time trial.

His previous fastest was a 1:31.95 done at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships on a relay leadoff.

While on initial check, it might appear that his more aggressive opening 50 in the regular event (20.94 versus 21.35 in his previous PB), he was even faster in the time trial opener, splitting 20.72 in his first 50.

Splitting in the time trial: 

• 20.72
• 43.66 (22.94)
• 1:07.54 (23.88)
• 1:31.87 (24.33)

That time would have placed him 3rd in the individual event final, and his opening 100 yard split would have been the fastest in the field by almost three tenths of a second. It also locks up a third NCAA Championship invite after previous trips in 2024 (16th in the 200 free) and 2022 (13th in the 200 free).

The Cal men won the 800 free relay in a new ACC Championship Record of 6:06.66. While Hanson’s split was faster than Jack Alexy‘s opening split of 1:32.98 on that relay, it seems unlikely that Alexy would lose his spot at NCAAs given his 1:29.75 opening split at last year’s national championship meet.

The Swedish-born Hanson, who turns 24 the week after NCAAs, also posted best times in the 50 free (19.35) and 100 free (42.37) this week at ACCs.

Then, for the Virginia women on Saturday, freshman Katie Grimes time trialed a 200 back in 1:53.21. She had no other races on Saturday after already using up her three individual swims earlier in the meet. That swim was 2.7 seconds slower than her lifetime best of 1:50.56 done at Sectionals in December before arriving in Virginia.

Previously in the meet, Grimes won the 500 free (4:32.69) and the 400 IM (3:59.69), which seem like safe bets for her NCAA Championship lineup. That leaves her to choose between the 200 fly (5th at ACCs in 1:53.63), the 1650 free (scratched at ACCS), and this 200 back for a third individual event. While her 200 fly last week was the better of the two swims, her 200 back is her better best time of the two races.

Other Notable Friday/Saturday Time Trial Swims:

• Cal 5th year Tyler Kopp time trialed a 1:43.46 in the 200 fly on Friday, and his teammate Humberto Najera swam 1:44.11. Najera later added a 1:41.23 in the 200 back in a Saturday time trial. Kopp’s 200 fly time knocked .78 seconds off his previous best time; he also swam best times in the 500 free (4:12.46) and 1650 free (14:51.43).
• Stanford’s Amy Tang time trialed a 48.30 in the 100 free, which dips her .04 seconds under the invited time for the 2024 NCAA Championships. She swam a 48.02 earlier in the meet in an individual event, which doesn’t lock her in for an NCAA invite, but puts her on the right side of the bubble.