Cal Heads to Minnesota Invitational

Wednesday, December 1

Minnesota, MN

All Day

California

Minnesota Invitational

11/30/2021 12:05 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Meet Notes Meet Central

No. 5 Bears to Face Top Teams Over Four Days In Minneapolis

By: Cal Athletics

Fifth-ranked Cal travels to Minneapolis for the Minnesota Invitational Wednesday through Saturday where the Golden Bears will face some of the fastest teams in the country as they aim to post NCAA qualifying times. Wednesday's session begins at 4 p.m. PT, while morning and evening sessions Thursday-Saturday will start at 8 a.m. PT and 4 p.m. PT each day. In addition to Cal, other teams scheduled to compete are: No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Michigan, No. 17 Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona and Harvard.

Cal last competed in Minnesota in 2019, and the Bears came away with the team title ahead of second-place Michigan and third-place Texas. While Cal swept all five relays, the highlight came in the 50-yard free when Abbey Weitzeil set an American record with a time of 20.90 seconds - a mark that continues to be the standard in the event.

Cal returns to action later this month to start a run of four consecutive home dual meets: UC San Diego Dec. 18, San Jose State Jan. 17, Arizona, Jan. 21 and Arizona State Jan. 22.

LAST TIME OUT - CAL WINS BIG AT UTAH: Cal won 12 of 14 events, including two each by Ayla Spitz, Isabel Ivey and Sarah DiMeco, to defeat Utah, 160-100, in a dual meet on Nov. 5 in Salt Lake City. DiMeco claimed the two distance free races, first taking the 1000-yard free in 10:17.47 for a two-second edge over teammate Robin Neumann. Later in the meet, she claimed the 500 free in 5:02.18. Spitz was the next to get in on the action, starting with the 200 free as her time of 1:49.83 led a 1-2-3-4 Cal finish. Spitz also prevailed in the 200 back with a two-second victory in 2:01.26. Ivey got her hand to the wall first with wins in the 100 back (53.31) and 100 free (50.55).

STADDEN, WEITZEIL NAMED TO U.S. SHORT-COURSE WORDS TEAM: Cal sophomore Isabelle Stadden and alum Abbey Weitzeil were recently chosen to represent Team USA at the FINA Short-Course World Championship Dec. 16-21 in Abu Dhabi. Stadden will swim the 200-meter back, while Weitzeil is slated to compete in the 50-meter free, 100-meter free and 100-meter IM.

Stadden is coming off a freshman season in which she placed in the top 5 at the NCAA Championships in both the 100-yard back (5th) and 200-yard back (3rd) and captured the Pac-12 200 back title. She later finished fifth in the 100-meter back and fourth in the 200-meter back at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. Weitzeil, who suited up for the Golden Bears from 2017-20, captured a silver medal in the 400-meter medley relay and a bronze medal in the 400-meter free relay at the Tokyo Olympics, in addition to taking eighth place in both the 50-meter free and 100-meter free.

TERI McKEEVER RECEIVES PARAGON AWARD: Cal head coach Teri McKeever received the Paragon Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame earlier this fall for her outstanding service and contributions towards advancing competitive swimming last weekend. Now in her 30th season leading the Golden Bears, McKeever is one of the most accomplished coaches in the sport, having guided Cal to five Pac-12 and four NCAA team titles, including 15 consecutive top-5 finishes at the national championships. She also served as head women's U.S. Olympic coach in 2012 and has been on the Olympic staff multiple times, including this past summer in Tokyo.

NATALIE COUGHLIN EARNS BASHOF HONOR: Natalie Coughlin, a 12-time Olympic medalist, 20-time World Championships medalist and former world-record holder, was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 3. The three-time collegiate swimmer of the year for the Bears from 2001-03 is the third Cal women's swimmer to join the BASHOF, with the others being Ann Curtis Cuneo (1983) and Mary T. Meagher (2002).