at Georgia Fall Invitational
Date: Friday-Sunday, Dec. 2-4
Time: Friday, Saturday: Prelims 6:30 a.m. PT, Finals 3 p.m. PT
    Sunday: Prelims 9:30 a.m. PT, Finals 12 noon PT
Venue: Gabrielsen Natatorium
Site: Athens, Ga.

Cal's swimmers head across the country this week for the Georgia Fall Invitational Friday-Sunday, where they will face off against some of the top teams and individuals in the nation. In addition to the Golden Bears and host Bulldogs, other teams competing in Athens, Ga., will be Auburn, Florida State, Michigan, Virginia, UCLA and Harvard. Georgia (1st), Cal (3rd), Virginia (5th) were all among the top 5 at the 2016 NCAA Championships.

The Bears last visited Georgia for the invitational in 2014 and came away with an impressive collection of fast times. Overall, all five relays reached the NCAA A standard, with 10 individual swims gaining A status and 45 more at B. The meet helped set the stage for a season that would end with the 2015 NCAA team championship.

Cal has been off from competition since a narrow 152-148 loss to Texas on Nov. 11. In the meet, the Bears set a pair of Spieker Aquatics Complex records: the foursome of Amy Bilquist, Maddie Murphy Abbey Weitzeil and Farida Osman finished the 400 free relay in 3:15.82, while Weitzeil won the 50 free in 22.09.

• LEGENDS AQUATIC CENTER OPENS
The Legends Aquatic Center, which features a pool with a bulkhead and diving tower, locker rooms and a team room, 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. 

• CAL SIGNS 10 FOR 2017-18 SEASON
On Nov. 9, Cal announced a recruiting class of seven swimmers and three divers who will join the Golden Bears for the 2017-18 season. The list of recruits includes Olympian Robin Neumann of the Netherlands and several others who participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials: Dannie Dilsaver (Lincoln, Neb.), Ali Harrison (Ventura, Calif.), Elizabeth Bailey (Atlanta, Ga.) and Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou (Santa Clara, Calif.). All-American Alexa Skorus-Neely (Canyon Country, Calif.) and versatile Natalie Tuck (Palo Alto, Calif.) round out the swimmers. All three divers hail from California in Jackie Im (San Diego), Kathleen Navas (San Jose) and Briana Thai (Alhambra).

• 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.

• BEARS ON TV
Cal will make a pair of appearances on the Pac-12 Network this season - vs. Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 11 and all four days of the Pac-12 Championships Feb. 22-25.

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