Five swimmers have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Golden Bears for the 2018-19 season, with each bringing a strong set of credentials to the California women's program.
 
Joining Cal beginning next season are: Cassidy Bayer of Alexandria, Va.; Elise Garcia from Irvine, Calif.; Ema Rajic of Urbana, Ill.; Alex Sumner from Swarthmore, Pa.; and Alicia Wilson, who hails from Guilford, England.
 
"The group brings a strong, diverse set of skills to our program, and they'll be able to help us in a number of different areas," head coach Teri McKeever said. "They have a good amount of experience that fits in line with the women we currently have, which will help support our goals in collegiate swimming as well as on the international level. In addition, they are an academically strong class and have some pretty serious aspirations beyond the pool."
 
The class features swimmers who are members of both the U.S. National and Junior National Team, have won medals at various international meets around the globe and have earned Scholastic All-America honors from USA Swimming.
 
Bayer, rated the fifth-best recruit in the country by SwimSwam.com, nearly made the U.S. Olympic team in 2016 after placing third in the 200-meter butterfly and fourth in the 100-meter fly. Garcia is another highly regarded recruit, ranked 18th by SwimSwam.com, who set a state championship record in the 50-yard free and a national high school mark in the 400-yard free relay.
 
Rajic broke Illinois state records in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley as a junior, while she was a semifinalist in the 50-meter breast at the Phillips 66 National Championships last summer. A member of the U.S. Junior National team, Sumner earned a silver medal in the 200-meter backstroke at the FINA World Junior Championships with her time of 2:09.04 tying for sixth on the all-time U.S. age 17-18 list.
 
Wilson rounds out the class and is coming off a bronze-medal performance in the 200-meter IM from the 2017 European Junior Championships. She also won three medals at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games this past summer.
 
The following are brief profiles of each of the five Bears' newcomers for the 2018-19 campaign.
 
Cassidy Bayer
Alexandria, Va. / West Potomac HS
Nation's Capital Swim Club
 
Bayer, a member of the U.S. National Team who attends West Potomac High School in Alexandria, Virginia, is rated the No. 5 recruit in the country by SwimSwam.com. She is a butterfly specialist who placed third in the 200-meter fly (2:07.97) and fourth in the 100-meter fly (58.11) at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. Both times are second only to former Cal star Mary T. Meagher on the U.S. 15-16 age group lists. Bayer was also the runner-up in the 200m fly at the 2015 Phillips 66 National Championships and earned a bronze medal in the 400m mixed medley relay while taking fourth in both butterfly events at the 2015 FINA World Junior Championships. She competes for the Nation's Capital Swim Club owns best times of 58.11 in the 100m fly and 2:07.87 in the 200m fly, which both ranked among the top 30 in the world for 2016. While her 2016-17 season was impacted by a knee injury, Bayer did reach the semifinals in the two fly events at the 2017 nationals meet.
 
Elise Garcia
Irvine, Calif. / Crean Lutheran HS
SOCAL Aquatics
 
Considered the No. 18 recruit in the country by SwimSwam.com, Garcia currently swims for SOCAL Aquatics and attends Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine. She captured the 50-yard free at the CIF-Southern Section Division II Championships last spring, setting a meet record with her time of 22.66. In 2016, she helped her team to the state title and set a state championship record in the 50 free. This past summer, Garcia placed seventh in the 100-meter free, fourth in the 100-meter fly and seventh in the 200-meter fly at the Junior Nationals Championships. She also competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 50 free and 100 fly, and she is a three-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American.
 
Ema Rajic
Urbana, Ill. / University HS
Champaign County YMCA Heat
 
A two-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American, Rajic is a breaststroke specialist who competes for Champaign County YMCA Heat in Urbana, Illinois. This past summer, she took 14th in the 50-meter breast (31.91) at the Phillips 66 National Championships, while she was 18th in the 100m breast and 35th in the 200m breast. As a junior at University High School, she set Illinois state records in both the 200-yard IM (2:00.27) and the 100-yard breast (1:00.77) on her way to state titles. Rajic, who owns dual citizenship for the United States and Croatia, is a four-time team MVP and owner of eight school records. She has also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and has interned in a biophysics lab at the University of Illinois.
 
Alex Sumner
Swarthmore, Pa. / Episcopal Academy
Suburban Seahawks Club
 
Sumner is a member of the U.S. Junior National Team and earned a silver medal with her time of 2:09.04 in the 200-meter back last summer at the FINA World Junior Championships. She also owns a PR of 1:00.88 in the 100m back. From Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and the Suburban Seahawks Club and Episcopal Academy, the USA Swimming Scholastic All-American captured first place at the 2017 Eastern Interscholastic Championships in the 200-yard IM (2:01.40) and 100-yard back (53.41). She also won the 200 back at the 2017 National Club Swimming Association Championships in Orlando.
 
Alicia Wilson
Guilford, Surrey, England / Charterhouse HS
Guilford City Club
 
Wilson hails from Guilford, England, where she swims for the Guilford City Club. She is coming off an outstanding summer when she earned medals in two major meets. Wilson claimed a bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley at the 2017 European Junior Championships in Israel (2:14.60), while also reaching the semifinals in the 50m and 100m free and the 100m fly. She also collected three medals at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas – 200m IM (gold), 50m fly (silver) and mixed 400m free relay (silver).