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Moments after delivering a 1-2 punch in the 50-yard freestyle at the 2019 NCAA Championships last March, the expressions on Ryan Hoffer and Pawel Sendyk's faces may have left fans wondering which California swimmer won the event.
 
Like much of the 2018-19 swimming season – which culminated in the Golden Bears' sixth NCAA championship – and the current 2019-20 campaign, Hoffer and Sendyk found themselves neck-and-neck with one another.
 
Neither of them would have it any other way, as Hoffer, then a sophomore, won the individual 50 free national title with Sendyk, then a junior, close behind him for a runner-up finish at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas. The combined result earned Cal 37 total points toward the team title.
 
"That's what the NCAAs are all about … it's about that team title," Sendyk said. "I was equally as happy for Hoff in comparison to if I had won the event. We accomplished what we set out to do as a team, and that's really all that mattered in that moment."
 
The combination of Sendyk and Hoffer's selflessness and team-first mindset, paired with a quiet competition between one another, is what makes the Cal duo special to head coach David Durden.
 
"It didn't matter to either of them who finished first or second, the goal was simply to be 1-2 at the end of the day," said Durden, who will also serve as Team USA's head men's coach at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo next summer. "That's a very genuine description of their relationship and their commitment to the team's goals."
 
There is little to no margin for error in the 50 free. The difference between the national champion and the fifth-place finisher at the 2019 meet was a matter of 0.36 seconds. Just five one-hundredths of a second stood between Hoffer (18.63) and Sendyk (18.68).
 
"Every element of the 50 free has to become one fluid process," Sendyk said. "The start, the turn, the breakout … it all has to be integrated. Even if you're missing just one those elements, it's the difference between being great and being just another guy in the pool."
 
Hoffer simplifies his approach to the 50 free even further.
 
"Don't think, don't breathe," he said. "Let the training take over. The minute you overthink one tiny detail, the minute you overthink your stroke count or your kick count, that could be your downfall. I try not to delve into my emotions or my thought process with the 50 free, because by the end of the season, my training should have me fully prepared and ready to react. You just have to rip it."
 
For elite swimmers such as Sendyk and Hoffer, the end result looks easy, even effortless. But to have your name included among the nation's fastest, a regimented and meticulous training approach must be implemented. That's where both swimmers credit Durden for his ability to bring out the best out of them.
 
"One of the biggest reasons why we all have so much success is because of how Dave approaches each one of us in an individualized way," Sendyk said. "While Hoff and I have the same goal of being the fastest we can possibly be in the 50 free, Dave understands that there's different ways to get there."
 
Hoffer, for example, notes that he fatigues easily, and without the proper rest during a long training schedule, he'll be "buried alive." This leads to Hoffer taking a couple training sessions off to regain his strength. In contrast, Sendyk approaches the 50 free with a heavier focus on endurance and a steady fitness level.
 
"Ryan is just so natural with what he does and it's easy to see that he's such a talented swimmer," Sendyk said. "That doesn't mean that I'm working any harder than he is or vice versa; it just shows that there's a difference in what we both focus on during our training."
 
"They're both great teammates for one another, and both go about their training in different ways," Durden said. "Pawel has a bit more of a workmanlike approach, whereas Ryan naturally has more athleticism and fast-twitch specificities. What I love about the comparison of Pawel and Ryan is that they recognize their differences in how they train. That understanding builds into a mutual level of respect for one another and the different paths they take to reach the best of their abilities."
 
Despite the differences in their training, they seem to be right beside one another when it's all said and done.
 
"It's weird how that works, right?" Hoffer said, grinning. "We go hand-in-hand, really. At any point in the season, regardless of how tapered my approach might be or how gradual Pawel's approach is, we seem to match up evenly more often than not.
 
"Pawel will be better one day, then I'll be better the next. It's a back-and-forth, unspoken competitiveness. That's what makes it fun for both of us. We're always trying to get the upper hand on one another, and every day counts. We don't really spend much time talking about how we push one another to be better. Instead, I think we just let the work talk for itself."
 
Sometimes, whoever has the upper hand between the two of them will change within a matter of minutes. Prior to their 1-2 finish in the final on day two of NCAAs last spring, Hoffer and Sendyk spent the morning putting their competitiveness on display during the 50 free prelims. In the fifth of six heats, Sendyk set a pool record with an 18.66 finish, only to see Hoffer top him with an 18.58 result – a new pool record and school record – just minutes later.
 
"Those instances are what make it special," Sendyk said. "That instantly re-motivated me to be even faster in the finals that night and try to top him. I didn't end up doing that, but it's definitely what fueled us to go 1-2 in the finals and earn a maximum number of points for the team."
 
From Durden's perspective as a coach, it's rewarding to see the two swimmers embrace that dynamic.
 
"The benefits both gain from having a peer who can relate to the grind and who is there to hold you accountable on those days when you're not feeling your best can't be measured," Durden said. "They both have someone next to them who is striving to be at a world-class level and that rubs off on one another."
 
Their head-to-head competition will continue to push them both toward bigger goals that lie ahead, including the 2020 NCAA Championships in Indianapolis March 25-28 and U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha in June. For now, each day is as important as the next.
 
"We have plenty of goals in the back of our minds, but if we trust our training, we'll be ready for those moments when they come," Sendyk said. "If we don't focus on getting better today, March or June won't really matter. To repeat as 1-2 in the 50 free at NCAAs would obviously be an awesome accomplishment for both of us, but like always, the team title is most important."
 
"We all want to be the fastest. We strive to stay on top, not just individually but as a team," Hoffer said. "That's always been the goal. The mentality doesn't change. We're going out there to beat the guy next to us."
 
For Hoffer and Sendyk, that usually means beating one another. Fortunately for Cal, that's a good problem to have.