California hosts its home opener on Friday afternoon when the Golden Bears welcome Washington State to Spieker Aquatics Complex for a 4 p.m. dual meet. The competition is the first of three straight in Berkeley for the squad, with Nevada visiting Nov. 4 and Texas on Nov. 11.

Last year, Cal and WSU staged a two-day dual in Pullman with the Bears coming out on top, 299.50-131.50. Then-freshman Amy Bilquist set pool records in the 100 back and 50 free.

The last time the Cougars visited Berkeley was also for the Bears' home opener. On that day - Oct. 5, 2013 - Cal came away with a 164-89 victory.

• CAL OPENS WITH WIN AT OREGON STATE
Celina Li, Marina Garcia and Amy Bilquist won two events apiece as the Cal kicked off its 2016-17 dual season with a sweep of Oregon State Oct. 7 in Corvallis, taking the meet by a score of 163-88. The Golden Bears claimed victory in all 14 races, which included first-place showings by three freshmen – Chenoa Devine in the 1000-yard free, Maddie Murphy in the 100-yard butterfly and Keaton Blovad in the 200-yard individual medley.

• LEGENDS AQUATIC CENTER OPENS
The new Legends Aquatic Center, a 52-meter training pool with a bulkhead and diving tower, locker rooms and a team room, officially opened in mid-October. The facility, which was completely funded by private donations, will primarily host training sessions, giving Cal Aquatics student-athletes more flexibility with class scheduling and opening up additional time for campus use at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Spieker will continue to be the pool used for the vast majority of competitions.

• BEARS EARN NEWMARK GPA AWARD
In early October, the Bears learned they had won the Newmark Award for having the highest GPA among all 30 of Cal's intercollegiate athletic teams for the 2015-16 academic year. When combined for the 24 women on the squad, the figure came to a very impressive 3.376. Among the academic accomplishments for last year were 14 Bears being named CSCAA Scholar All-Americans and 12 team members on the Pac-12 All-Academic squad. In addition, Rachael Acker was chosen the Pac-12 Woman of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year (for women's swimming & diving), and Acker and Rachel Bootsma were voted Academic All-Americans.

• RIO RECAP: 8 MEDALS AT THE OLYMPICS
Ten current and former Bears swam at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and together they came home with an impressive eight medals. Two current squad members - Kathleen Baker and Abbey Weitzeil - certainly made their marks. Baker earned silver in the 100m back and on the 400m medley relay, while Weitzeil claimed silver on the 400m free relay and gold on the medley relay. Farida Osman (Egypt) and Noemie Thomas (Canada) were also 2016 Olympians.

• BEARS ON TV
Cal will make a pair of appearances on the Pac-12 Network this season, starting with the Bears' home meet vs. Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 11 from Spieker Aquatics Center. In addition, the network will broadcast action from all four days of the Pac-12 Championships Feb. 22-25.