OMAHA, Neb. – California advanced seven total swimmers to the 200-meter backstroke and 200m individual medley semifinals Thursday morning at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials at CHI Health Center Omaha.
 
The Golden Bears flexed their depth in the backstroke preliminaries as Destin Lasco (1st, 1:56.88), Bryce Mefford (2nd, 1:57.51), Ryan Murphy (5th, 1:57.95) and Daniel Carr (7th, 1:59.09) all secured top-seven seeds. Another three Bears – Andrew Seliskar (1:59.38), Trenton Julian (2:00.73) and Jason Louser (2:01.26) – earned spots in the 200m IM semis. Full results from Thursday's prelims can be viewed here.
 
In 10 heats across the 200m back and 200m IM prelims, a Cal swimmer touched first seven times.
 
Sean Grieshop (2:01.31) is the first alternate for the 200m IM semifinals, if one of the top-16 qualifiers were to scratch.
 
200 Back (Prelims)
1. Destin Lasco (1:56.88) - qualified
2. Bryce Mefford (1:57.51) - qualified
5. Ryan Murphy (1:57.95) - qualified
7. Daniel Carr (1:59.09) - qualified
22. Gabriel Jett (2:01.46)
28. Colby Mefford (2:02.18)
 
200 IM (Prelims)
7. Andrew Seliskar (1:59.38) - qualified
13. Trenton Julian (2:00.73) - qualified
16. Jason Louser (2:01.26) - qualified
17. Sean Grieshop (2:01.31) - alternate
32. Chris Jhong (2:03.14)
 
UP NEXT
All seven Bears who advanced through morning qualifying will compete in their respective semifinals tonight. The finals/semifinals session begins at 4:45 p.m. PT and will be televised on NBC/NBCSN.
 
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