Cal alumnus and 2010 Pac-10 Athlete of the Year Nareg Guregian qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics on Wednesday, winning the men's pair at the 2016 Olympic Trials with partner Anders Weiss at the Princeton National Rowing Center.

Guregian and Weiss broke the course record in securing the last two spots on the U.S. Rowing Team for the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"I've never been happier to see someone make the Olympic team than I was for Nareg," said Cal coach Mike Teti, a former Olympian himself. "We have a saying, 'It's not who wins most, it's who wins last,' and he certainly proved that today."

In Wednesday's finals, Guregian and Weiss took the lead in the first 500 and continued to gain momentum throughout the 2,000-meter race.

"Our goal was to get the lead as soon as possible, keep pushing out, never get comfortable, and I thought we did a really job of executing that race plan," Guregian said. "We went really hard off the start and made sure once we were in the middle of the race we had a good rhythm and were about to counter whatever moves other guys would put in."

A native of North Hills, California, Guregian has been training for this opportunity full time since graduating from Cal in 2010, building an impressive resume of international racing including wins in the eight at the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup III and 2014 World Rowing Cup II, followed by bronze in the eight at the 2015 Pan American Games.

"I've had a lot of ups and downs on the national team - made a couple, missed a couple teams," said Guregian, whose fiancé, Katelin Snyder, will cox the women's eight in Rio. "Trusting your fitness, trusting yourself and having the right support group around you is really important. I have really supportive friends, supportive family, and supportive teammates who made this all possible.

Nareg will be one of five Golden Bears participating in men's rowing at the Rio Olympics – others include current Golden Bear Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk (Poland) as well as alums Will Dean (Canada), Marko Marjonvic (Serbia) and Olivier Siegelaar (The Netherlands).