COLUMBUS, Ohio – California opened the NCAA Championships by racing to the second-fastest 800-yard free relay time in school history, touching in 6:50.83 to claim third place on the first day of the meet Wednesday.
 
The Golden Bears improved their time by more than 1.5 seconds from the Pac-12 Championships three weeks ago, and their result stands behind only the Cal-record 6:50.18 from the 2015 season.
 
Freshman Robin Neumann led off in 1:43.78 – just off her personal best – and she was followed by Kathleen Baker, Katie McLaughlin and Amy Bilquist. McLaughlin's split of 1:41.64 was the best of her career.
 
"I thought they did a nice job and it was a really good way to kick us off for the week," head coach Teri McKeever said. "It would have been nice to move up, but I don't think you can complain when you go the second-best time in history. We responded well to the racing situation and Katie, particularly, had one of the best swims she's had as a Golden Bear. We just have to keep it going."
 
Stanford earned the victory in 6:46.93, while Michigan was second in 6:50.03.
 
The meet resumes at 7 a.m. PT Thursday morning with qualifying heats in the 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 individual medley, 50 free and the 400 medley relay, as well as in 1-meter diving. The championships run through Saturday.