The World Championships for swimming get underway this weekend in Gwangju, South Korea, and Cal will be well-represented throughout the weeklong competition with more than a dozen Golden Bears slated to race in the water. In addition, David Durden is serving as head coach of the U.S. men's team and Teri McKeever is an assistant for the U.S. women.
 
Team USA features eight swimmers with Cal ties, with five on the men's side and three for the women, and almost all have previous World Championships experience. Other Bears will be donning caps for their home countries from Egypt, Spain, Hong Kong, Croatia and Singapore.
 
Nathan Adrian is the most decorated member of the group, having claimed 13 World Championships medals and eight Olympic medals during his career. He is competing at the world meet for the sixth time and earned four medals the last time the event was held in 2017 – gold in the 400 free relay, 400 medley relay and 400 mixed medley relay, and silver in the 100 free.
 
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy qualified to swim all three backstroke distances – 50, 100 and 200 meters – and will likely be on the medley relay. This summer marks his third world meet, and he enters the 2019 competition with six all-time medals – three gold, two silver and a bronze. Two years ago, Murphy claimed gold on the 400 medley relay and 400 mixed medley relay, silver in the 200 back and bronze in the 100 back.
 
Kathleen Baker has a trio of World Championships medals to her credit – gold in the 400 medley relay, silver in the 100 back and bronze in the 200 back, all from 2017 – and this marks her third all-time appearance at the meet. She's scheduled to compete in all three backstroke events this year.
 
The rest of Cal's lineup on the U.S. squad features Katie McLaughlin, Jacob Pebley, Josh Prenot, Andrew Seliskar, and Abbey Weitzeil.
 
Those representing foreign teams include: Farida Osman (Egypt), Camille Cheng and Stephanie Au (Hong Kong), Marina Garcia (Spain), Ema Rajic (Croatia) and Zheng Wen Quah (Singapore).
 
The 18th FINA World Championships run July 21-28 at the Nambu International Aquatics Center. Follow CalBears.com, and @CalMenSwim and @CalWSwim social media accounts for updates on the Bears throughout the meet. Additional coverage is available at:

• TV/Webcast Schedule
• Results
• FINA.org