From Coast to Coast: California Men Win Their First Atlantic Coast Conference Title

by Robert Gibbs 2

February 22nd, 2025 ACC, College, News

2025 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships

Since Dave Durden took over as head coach in 2007, the California Golden Bears have never been reticent about the fact that their ultimate goal each year is to win the NCAA Championships, not just their conference. That was particularly clear during a couple of Pac-12 championship meets. Especially during Olympic years, Durden occasionally sent several of the Bears’ best swimmers to compete at long course meets and forego the Pac-12 Championships.

And that approach has worked well: during Durden’s tenure, no team has won more national championships than Cal; both Cal and Texas have won six titles each during that timeframe.

But even if the Bears have their eyes on next month (and they certainly do), it has to be gratifying to win their first ACC title in their first year in the conference after emerging from the rubble of the old Pac-12.

Coming into this week, it looked to be Cal’s meet to lose, and sure enough, the Bears led from 200 medley relay through the end of the meet four days later. In some ways, it wasn’t an utterly dominating performance from Cal; they “only” won six events, and it was clear that several of their top stars, like Destin Lasco, didn’t appear to be anywhere near fully tapered.

On the other hand, the Bears won three of the five relays, and they won all three with ACC Championship record times. Twenty different men earned points, led by Gabriel Jett, who earned 80 points with a runner-up finish in the 500 (behind teammate Lucas Henveaux), 4th place in the 200 fly, and an individual title in the 200 back.

By tomorrow, the Bears will be back on the Left Coast, and they’ll certainly be back in the pool in the next few days, gearing up for the next challenge — the NCAA Championships in March. But for tonight, the Bears will undoubtedly take at least some measure of satisfaction from knowing they took care of business in Greensboro this week.

Event Wins

Individual Scorers

Final Team Scores

  1. California- 1271.5
  2. Stanford – 1065
  3. NC State – 1021
  4. North Carolina – 852
  5. Louisville – 814.5
  6. VA Tech – 654
  7. Florida State – 639
  8. Virginia – 529.5
  9. Georgia Tech – 465
  10. Pittsburgh – 456.5
  11. Southern Methodist – 434
  12. Duke  – 171
  13. Boston College – 123
  14. Miami (Florida) – 84
  15. Notre Dame – 45

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NUSwimFan
4 hours ago

The California Golden Bears, champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference is not something I thought I’d ever say

Spieker Pool Lap Swimmer
5 hours ago

As a Cal fan, I wish I knew what conference we’ll be in in five years’ time.

About Robert Gibbs