Courtesy: Cal Athletics
BERKELEY – California will host rival Stanford at 1 p.m. PT Friday, Feb. 19 in the Golden Bears’ final men’s swimming & diving dual meet of the 2020-21 season. The competition will be held at Spieker Aquatics Complex and Legends Aquatic Center.
Under Pac-12 Conference and local public health protocols, no fans are permitted to attend the meet in Berkeley. Friday will mark the third time that the Bears and the Cardinal have squared off this season; the two squads competed in a pair of non-scoring meets back in November.
SENIORS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
A decorated group of eight Cal seniors will be swimming in their final home meet on Friday. The class includes Nate Biondi, Daniel Carr, Sean Grieshop, Jarod Hatch, Ryan Hoffer, Trenton Julian, Bryce Mefford and Zach Yeadon. Other than Yeadon – a senior transfer from Notre Dame who is a two-time ACC champion and seven-time All-American – the group includes seven four-year members of the Cal program.
The seniors helped lead Cal to the 2019 NCAA title, scoring 178 combined individual points as sophomores, as well as three consecutive Pac-12 team titles (2018-20). They’ve also amassed two NCAA individual/relay titles, 60 CSCAA All-American honors, 25 Pac-12 individual/relay titles and six CSCAA Scholar All-American honors.
DUAL MEET STREAK
The Bears have won 13 straight dual meets dating back to Oct. 3, 2018. That streak includes a win vs. USC in January and a 6-0 record in 2019-20. Cal is 76-11 in dual meets under David Durden (2008-present).
TOP TIMES
The Bears own eight total top-five times across seven different events this season, including a pair of the nation’s fastest marks.
- 50 Free – Ryan Hoffer (18.97, No. 1)
- 100 Free – Ryan Hoffer (42.12, No. 5)
- 100 Back – Destin Lasco (45.21, No. 3)
- 200 Back – Destin Lasco (1:39.60, No. 2)
- 100 Breast – Reece Whitley (51.54, No. 3)
- 200 Breast – Reece Whitley (1:48.53, No. 1)
- 200 Fly – Trenton Julian (1:39.93, No. 3)
LAST TIME IN THE POOL
California opened and closed the second day of its dual meet against USC at Spieker Aquatics Complex in the same fashion – setting a pool record in a relay – as the Bears went on to defeat the Trojans, 107-76, on Jan. 30. In the first event of the day, the foursome of Daniel Carr, Reece Whitley, Ryan Hoffer and Björn Seeliger covered the 200-yard medley relay in 1:24.62, shaving 0.19 seconds off the old mark set in 2019. A little over an hour later, the quartet of Hoffer, Carr, Destin Lasco and Seeliger completed the 400 free relay in 2:50.09, a nearly three-second improvement over the previous record (2:52.87 from 2005).
In between, Cal captured four of the seven individual races, including 1-2-3 sweeps in the 500 free and 200 breast. Zach Yeadon was the first to claim a first-place finish when he out-dueled teammate Sean Grieshop in the 500 free. Yeadon touched the wall in 4:22.21, with Grieshop right behind in 4:23.07. Then, Whitley cruised to an almost five-second win in the 200 breast, finishing 1:53.75 to runner-up Hugo González’s 1:58.39. Carr won the 200 back in 1:43.23, and Seeliger took the 50 free in 19.42 to round out the Bears’ list of victors on the day.
IN THE RANKINGS
Cal is ranked second nationally in the most recent CSCAA TYR Top 25 poll (Feb. 11) with 312 points, trailing only Texas (325).
BEAR SMARTS
Cal was named a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team for the Fall 2020 semester after posting a 3.31 team GPA. It is the sixth time in the last seven academic semesters that the Bears have earned Scholar All-America Team honors.
STAY POSTED
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