Cal Heads To NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 17

Greensboro, NC

All Day

California

NCAA Championships

3/15/2021 3:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

Cal Meet Preview Live Video Stream Live Results

13 Bears Set For National Meet In Greensboro, NC

By: Cal Athletics

California heads to Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Greensboro Aquatic Center for the NCAA Championships set for Wednesday through Saturday. The Golden Bears feature a roster of a dozen swimmers and one diver who will be aiming to secure the team's 12th consecutive top-3 finish. During the span, Cal has earned four national titles - including one in Greensboro in 2015 - and has finished as the runner-up at the past three meets.

The Bears are coming off a Pac-12 championship, their fifth overall and first since 2015. Cal won 12 of 18 swimming events, with junior Isabel Ivey taking home Swimmer of the Meet honors after capturing the 100 back, 100 fly and 100 free and helping four relays to first- place finishes.

During this pandemic-shortened season, the Bears went 3-0 in dual meets and participated in two non-scoring meets with Stanford in the fall before championship action began. Despite the abbreviated schedule, Cal set 11 school dual-meet records and 11 Spieker Aquatics Complex records. In addition, junior Ema Rajic lowered the school record in the 100 breast four times over the course of the season.

NCAA MEET COVERAGE: ESPN3 will provide online coverage of the NCAA Championships for all morning and evening sessions. Tape-delayed coverage of the meet will air on ESPNU at 4 p.m. PT on Tuesday, April 6.

Prelims will start at 7 a.m. PT beginning Thursday morning, while finals will begin at 3 p.m. each of the four days of competition. Diving prelims get underway at approximately 12:30 p.m. PT.

11 IN A ROW AMONG NCAA TOP 3: Cal has finished among the top three at the NCAA Championships 11 years in a row - the longest current streak in the country. Included in the run are four national titles, coming in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015. The Bears were also second in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and third in 2010, 2014 and 2016.

NCAA EXPERIENCE: Of the 13 Golden Bears traveling to Greensboro for the NCAA Championships, four are newcomers to the NCAA roster with nine having qualified for the either 2018, 2019 or 2020 meets. However, because the 2020 event was canceled, only four swimmers have actually competed at NCAA's - Isabel Ivey, Robin Neumann, Ema Rajic and Alicia Wilson in 2019, with Neumann also on the Cal squad as a freshman in 2018.

Ivey, Neumann and Rajic have all scored individually at NCAA's. As a freshman in 2018, Neumann was fifth in the 200 free and 15th in the 100 free, while she took eighth in the 200 free and 14th in the 100 free in 2019. Rajic was eighth in the 100 breast as a freshman two years ago. Ivey, meanwhile, reached the A final in two events (4th, 100 back; 6th, 100 fly) and won the B final in the 200 IM in 2019. On relays, Rajic won a national title as a member of Cal's 400 medley relay and was on the runner-up 200 medley relay in 2019. Neumann led off the Bears 800 free relay in both 2018 (3rd) and 2019 (2nd). Ivey was on the NCAA-winning 400 free relay and the runner-up 200 medley relay and 800 free relay in 2019. Although she didn't score in her first appearance at the national meet, Wilson competed in three individual events - 100 back (44th), 200 back (31st) and 200 IM (18th).

ADDING UP THE TITLES: Not only have the Golden Bears captured four team national titles under head coach Teri McKeever, but Cal has also secured 60 event wins during her tenure - 39 individual races and 21 relays. A total of 37 of those victories have come since 2011.

CAL CAPTURES 5TH PAC-12 TITLE: Behind a dominating performance that saw Cal win 12 of 18 swimming events, the Bears won their fifth all-time Pac-12 championship in late February. Junior Isabel Ivey led the way with three wins - 100 back, 100 fly, 100 free - while others to reach the top of the podium were Isabelle Stadden (200 back), Rachel Klinker (200 fly), Robin Neumann (200 free) and Alicia Wilson (200 IM). Cal also swept all five relays during the meet.

PAC-12 HONORS ISABEL IVEY: Isabel Ivey has had a hold on Pac-12 honors since the start of the calendar year, winning Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year recognition twice and earning Pac-12 Swimmer of the Meet honors after claiming three individual titles and being a part of four winning relays at the conference championships. She picked up her first award after she set pool and dual-meet records in the 100 fly and 100 free and was a part of four record-setting relays in victories over USC and UCLA Jan. 29-31. Ivey then won three individual races - 100 back, 100 free and 100 fly - and swam a leg on the Bears' victorious 200 medley relay in a dual win at Stanford. At Pac-12's, she touched first in the 100 fly, 100 back and 100 free.

RAJIC LOWERS 100 BREAST MARK AGAIN AND AGAIN: Ema Rajic has lowered the school record in the 100 breast four times this season with her latest effort being a 58.45 performance during her runner-up finish at the Pac-12 Championships. Rajic initially set the Cal mark in prelims at the 2019 NCAA meet (58.97) and she went on to finish eighth in the final. This year, she went 58.93 at Stanford on Nov. 21, 58.79 against USC on Jan. 29 and 58.57 in qualifying at Pac-12's. Rajic has had six sub-59-second performances this season after having had only one previously.

BEAR SMARTS: With a 3.65 GPA for the fall semester, the Bears earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors for the 22nd semester in a row - every time the award has been presented. The team has also won the Newmark Award for having the highest GPA among all 30 Cal teams twice in the past three years.

CAL ON THE NCAA BEST TIMES LIST: Cal enters this week's meet with 31 swims - 26 individual and five relays - that rank among the top 25 in the country according to the NCAA psych sheet. Isabel Ivey is in the top 8 in three events (100 free, 100 back, 100 fly), while Isabelle Stadden (100 back, 200 back) and Alicia Wilson (200 IM, 400 IM) are in the top 8 in two events.

50 free – 22. Eloise Riley 22.09; 23. Elise Garcia 22.11
100 free – 2. Isabel Ivey 47.24; 13. Robin Neumann 47.94; 18. Eloise Riley 48.40; 20. Emily Gantriis 48.44
200 free – 5. Robin Neumann 1:43.19; 9. Ayla Spitz 1:44.10
500 free – 7. Ayla Spitz 4:38.05; 13. Robin Neumann 4:39.82; 20. Sarah DiMeco 4:41.91
1650 free – 13. Sarah DiMeco 16:06.45
100 back – 3. Isabelle Stadden 50.86; 5. Isabel Ivey 51.12; 23. Téa Laughlin 52.51
200 back – 2. Isabelle Stadden 1:49.77; 13. Alicia Wilson 1:52.67; 17. Ayla Spitz 1:53.21
100 breast – 9. Ema Rajic 58.45
200 breast – 12. Ema Rajic 2:07.16
100 fly – 6. Isabel Ivey 50.87; 16. Rachel Klinker 51.79
200 fly – 5. Rachel Klinker 1:52.82
200 IM – 2. Alicia Wilson 1:53.58; 14. Isabelle Stadden 1:55.80
400 IM – 4. Alicia Wilson 4:04.10
200 free relay – 3. Eloise Riley, Emily Gantriis, Elise Garcia, Isabel Ivey 1:26.84
400 free relay – 3. Eloise Riley, Robin Neumann, Elise Garcia, Isabel Ivey 3:11.27
800 free relay – 2. Robin Neumann, Ayla Spitz, Rachel Klinker, Alicia Wilson 6:55.99
200 medley relay – 6. Isabelle Stadden, Ema Rajic, Isabel Ivey, Emily Gantriis 1:35.81
400 medley relay – 2. Isabelle Stadden, Ema Rajic, Isabel Ivey, Emily Gantriis 3:26.70

RECRUITING AROUND THE GLOBE: Cal signed a 14-swimmer recruiting class in November, one that bolsters the Golden Bears in virtually every event and brings scholar-athletes to Berkeley from across the country and around the world. Five members of the group hail from California, including four from the Bay Area, while there are two from Illinois, and one each from Florida, Georgia, Oregon and South Carolina. The international contingent features swimmers from Hungary, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.