This feature originally appeared in the 2017-18 Winter edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.



As a swimmer at Woodside High School, Karl Arvidsson had several options to weigh when it came time to decide which college to attend.
 
One particular piece of advice from Cal head coach Dave Durden stood out as Arvidsson narrowed his choices.
 
"One of the coolest things was Dave telling me on a phone call one day 'don't feel like you have to do this for anyone else; be here if you want to be here,'" Arvidsson said. "That was awesome. That was something my parents had told me to think about and said if you want to do this, we would love it. Obviously, it was what I wanted to do."
 
A year later, Nate Biondi went through the same process. An up-and-coming swimmer at Sierra Canyon High School in Southern California, he faced the same debate Arvidsson did when considering where he would enter the next phase of his swimming career.
 
The decision ended up the same.
 
"When I started the process, I barely had sectional cuts," Biondi said. "Looking at the guys on Cal's team, I had a long way to go to get there. I was a big Cal fan growing up. We'd go to Cal football games and I liked the school just through my parents being alumni. I wanted to come to Cal."
 
As the calendar turns to 2018, two of the most familiar surnames in Cal swimming history again appear on the team sheet as Arvidsson, a sophomore, and Biondi, a freshman, compete for a program that has gained so much from their respective families over the years. The sons of Cal legends and Olympic gold medalists Par Arvidsson and Matt Biondi, the two now find themselves swimming in the same colors as two of the school's all-time greatest student-athletes.
 
What makes that fact remarkable has little to do with the Olympic medals won by famous fathers, because the core reason for joining the Cal men's swimming community has actually less to do with times and results than most might think.
 
"I felt that it was a good group of guys when I was there with the commitment and culture and focus on the team," Par Arvidsson said. "I have always admired and was lucky to experience the high academic environment at Berkeley. I thought it was very exciting for Karl to have that opportunity and to want that opportunity."
 
The Arvidsson family will always enjoy a connection to Berkeley, with both of Karl's parents, Par and Carol, having graduated from Cal. That college experience wasn't confined to a four-year window though, as the two have been longtime supporters of Cal Aquatics.
 
And now, as their son competes under a list of Olympians that includes his gold medalist father, the Arvidssons get to return to their alma mater not only to visit but also to support Karl as he charts his own course at one of the world's leading institutions of higher learning.
 
"It's special to be able to watch your kids perform at something that they're passionate about and work hard for and care about," Par Arvidsson said. "Of course, it's incredibly satisfying and exciting and hard to describe in words to be able to do that where I swam and went to school. My wife also is a Cal graduate, so for us to come back and be on campus, we just think it's fun. To go to Spieker and watch Karl participate with his teammates, regardless of results, is an incredible experience. We're lucky to be part of that."
 
The legacy left by his father's accomplishments doesn't weigh on Karl Arvidsson. He remembers childhood trips to Spieker Aquatics Complex and seeing Par's name on the list of Olympians but also recalls the glowing endorsement his dad gave to college swimming and the experiences he had as a Cal student-athlete.
 
"I feel like I belong. It's not so much because of my dad," Karl Arvidsson said. "It is a cool reminder though. He donated a locker at Legends [Aquatic Center] and now I have his locker that he donated. It's a really cool reminder seeing my name and Par Arvidsson, class of '82 right under it. It's pretty special, that bond I have with him through this team that is really connected not only by the guys on the team now but with the alumni we have."
 
Nate Biondi also swims under the same list of Olympians that bears his father's name, but until just a few years ago, he wasn't on track to join the family business. Growing up in Hawai'i as the son of not one but two former Cal swimmers (his mother, Kirsten, swam at Cal as well), Nate Biondi played nearly every sport he could as a kid. He also found creative success away from athletics as well, demonstrating that talent by winning a K through 12 art competition as only a fourth grader.
 
Eventually, he moved to Southern California to live with his father and enrolled at Sierra Canyon High School. Initially interested in joining what he would find out was a top-10 national power in basketball, his focus shifted to the pool.
 
The decision to take up swimming left Nate Biondi as an aspiring athlete swimming under a head coach who ranks among the most accomplished and recognizable athletes in Olympic history. But though his resume includes 11 Olympic medals and at one point or another 12 world records, Matt Biondi's focus on his son's development as a coach wasn't intended to produce an NCAA champion on day one.
 
"He's big on improvement," Nate Biondi said. "Whether that's taking a set every week that's pretty similar and showing you're getting better, he's never imposed on me to go this time or be this fast. He just made sure I was working hard and giving my best effort."
 
Improvement did follow, and it got to the point where Nate was indeed a swimmer with the potential that Durden and associate head coach Yuri Sugiyama look for at Cal. That suited Matt Biondi just fine because, while he worked hard to stay impartial during the recruiting process, he knew deep down what result he was pulling for.
 
"When I went to Cal, I felt like the focus of the University was on what you did and what you said and it wasn't about whether you were popular or competing in a popular sport," Matt Biondi said. "I remember being voted best athlete on campus three of the four years I was there and Kevin Johnson had an incredible NBA career and went on to be mayor of Sacramento. There were not chumps on campus.
 
"To have the University be able to recognize me for what I did and the accolades that I brought to the University was so inspiring. To be judged not because I was skinny or I didn't have a lot of friends or because I was in a minor sport but to be judged because I was one of the best at what I did (was important). All the swimmers at (Cal) have that same opportunity."
 
As the spring season kicks into gear, Karl Arvidsson and Nate Biondi will get that opportunity. And even with a Cal heritage to reflect on, they now get their own chance to write a new chapter in Cal swimming history.
 
"All that coming together, all that camaraderie we see is special because it's not only our dads," Karl Arvidsson said. "I know my dad's friends who went here. In 30 years, Nate and I are going to be the same way coming back to all this stuff. It's a really special group and community to be a part of. To have that bond with Nate and myself but also see it with our dads and the guys they swam with, it's a lot bigger than what we're doing right now."