Ema Rajic Posts Cal Record with 58.93 100 Breast, Stadden hits 1:49.7 200 Back

Cal vs Stanford

• Saturday, November 21st, 2020
• Stanford, CA
• Short Course Yards (SCY) & Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Results

With the Covid-19 pandemic still raging, and restrictions still in place, Bay Area opponents Cal and Stanford are taking the opportunity to race each other more often than usual. This weekend the Bears traveled over to Stanford, with some of their men’s swimmers as well, and competed in another unscored dual meet featuring both SCY and LCM racing.

Women’s recap:

Cal junior Ema Rajic threw down lifetime bests in both the SCY breaststroke events, taking down the Cal team record in the 100 breast. Rajic clocked a 58.93 in the 100, winning the race by nearly 2 full seconds. Rajic already held the team record at 58.97, which she swam last season. The junior wasn’t done yet, however, as she came back in the 200 breast and posted a 2:07.16 to knock over a second off her previous best of 2:08.23. The swim marks Rajic as the #2 Bear all-time, although she still has quiite a bit of ground to make up on Cailtin Levernez’s 2:04.76 team record.

Cal freshman Isabelle Stadden also swam a personal best on the day, posting a 1:49.77 in the 200 back. Not only was the swim a personal best for Stadden, it marks the 2nd-fastest swim in the NCAA this season, behind only Alabama’s Rhyan White, who clocked a 1:49.30 yesterday as well. Stadden also raced the 200 back LCM, where she was 2:13.70.

Like last weekend, Stanford senior Brooke Forde posted some of the biggest swims. This week, Forde opted to swim the SCY 400 IM and LCM 200 free, winning both. In the 400 IM, Forde, one of the top 400 IM’ers in the NCAA currently, swam a 4:02.90, coming in a few seconds off her personal best of 3:59.26. Cal sophomore Alicia Wilson gave Forde a good race, holding the lead from the 3rd 50 through the 6th 50. Wilson clocked a 1:01.20 split on backstroke, and 1:09.64 on breaststroke, while Forde was 1:02.97 and 1:07.80. Wilson ultimately swam a 4:04.10, marking a best time.

Forde also went on to swim a 1:59.89 in the LCM 200 free, finishing first handily. The swim comes in just under 2 seconds off her personal best of 1:57.98.

Katie Ledecky swam one event at this meet, racing the LCM 800 free by herself. The world record holder (8:04.79) swam an 8:16.90, splitting 4:06.13/4:10.77 by 400. Although few swimmers have been as fast as 8:16.90 in history, the swim marks Ledecky’s 28th-fastest performance in the event to date. Simone Manuel also opted to swim one event, posting a 53.34 in the LCM 100 free, which led the field by 3 seconds.

Stanford junior Morgan Tankersley won the 1650 free decisively, swimming a 16:09.91. Tankersley swam a brilliant race, descending each of her first 500’s (each 500 was faster than the last). She split 4:56.31 on the first 500, followed by a 4:54.31 on the 2nd 100, and 4:51.58 on the 3rd 500.

The freshmen duo of Emily Gantriis and Eloise Riley got it done for Cal again this week, going 1-2 in the 50 free. Gantriis clocked a 22.14, while Riley was 22.33, both out-pacing Stanford’s top swimmer – Anya Goeders (22.41). Cal sophomore Izzy Ivey took the 100 free in 48.01.

Men’s Recap:

Nathan Adrian made an appearance at the meet, swimming the men’s LCM 50 and 100 free. In the 50, Adrian posted a 21.98, just slightly off his fastest time this year, which was 21.88. Adrian also swam a 49.07 in the 100 free, topping the field by over a second. Cal freshman Bjorn Seeliger swam a 50.46 for 2nd in that race.

Stanford junior Daniel Roy posted a pair of big swims, both in the 200 breast. Roy first swam the SCY 200 breast, where he posted lifetime best of 1:51.64, after getting out to a speedy 53.89 on the first 100. Roy then went on to swim the LCM 200 breast, again in best time fashion. In the LCM 200 breast, Roy clocked a 2:08.89, marking his first time under 2:09 in the event. He again got out to a fast start, splitting 1:02.01 on the first 100 of that race. Roy’s LCM 100 breast personal best is 1:01.16.

Cal’s Trenton Julian popped off a big LCM 200 free, touching in 1:49.28. Julian got out to a 52.57 start on the first 100, but faded just slightly coming home, splitting 56.71 on the back half. Julian was just a bot off his lifetime best of 1:47.57.

Cal’s Bryce Mefford swam the LCM 100 back and 200 back, winning both. In the 100 back, Mefford swam a 54.77, coming in less than a second off his personal best of 53.84. Mefford also swam a 1:59.49 in the 200 back. Cal transfer Zach Yeadon swam a 14:54.66 to win the men’s 1650 free, leading Stanford’s True Sweetser by 18 seconds.

Stanford’s freshmen were all over the SCY 200 free, going 1-2-3 in the event. Luke Maurer led the way, swimming the only sub-1:35 in the field with a 1:34.31. He was followed by teammates Preston Forst and Dare Rose in 1:35.02 and 1:35.53 respectively. Sophomore teammate Leon MacAlister came in 4th with a 1:35.85.

Cal sophomore Reece Whitley swam the SCY 100 breast and LCM 100 breast. In the SCY 100 breast, Whitley swam a 52.46, while he was 1:01.98 in the LCM race.

PRESS RELEASE – CAL:

STANFORD – Junior Ema Rajic set a Cal record in the 100-yard breaststroke and posted the No. 2 time in school history in the 200 breast, as the Golden Bears took on Stanford for a second consecutive weekend in a non-scoring dual meet Saturday.

Rajic covered the 100 breast in 58.93, just under her mark of 58.97 from the 2019 NCAA Championships. She also finished the 200 breast in 2:07.16 for a more than one-second improvement from her previous personal best, keeping her second in the Cal annals.

In addition, two other Bears posted improvements among Cal’s all-time best list. Sophomore Alicia Wilson lowered her PR in the 400 individual medley to 4:04.10, good for the No. 3 mark at Cal, while freshman Isabelle Stadden went 1:49.77 to win the 200 back. The time puts her in the No. 4 slot on the school’s all-time list in the event and is a 1.4-second improvement over her 200 back result from last weekend.

Several other Cal swimmers picked up racing wins during the day – freshman Emily Gantriis in the 50 free (22.14), junior Isabel Ivey in the 100 free (48.01), and sophomore Rachel Klinker in the 200 free (1:46.89) and 200 fly (1:55.80).

The meet also features several long-course events, as well as swimmers from the Cal and Stanford men’s teams.