TOKYO – Abbey Weitzeil secured Cal's first medal of the Tokyo Olympics when she helped the United States to a bronze-medal finish in the women's 400-meter freestyle relay Saturday night Pacific Time to headline a busy day for the Golden Bears.
 
Weitzeil posted the fastest split among the Americans with a time of 52.68 on the second leg of the race. Australia captured the gold medal with a world-record time, while Canada edged the U.S. by 0.03 seconds as the Americans finished in 3:32.81.
 
Weitzeil, a 2020 graduate who also swam at the 2016 Olympics, picked up the 49th Olympic medal in Cal women's swimming history. She earned a pair of medals in Rio on the 400 free relay and 400 medley relay. Weitzeil is entered in two individual events in Tokyo – the 50 free and 100 free – and she will likely be on at least one more relay before the competition concludes.
 
In addition, Golden Bears were active in men's and women's rowing, softball, men's swimming and men's water polo on Saturday.
 
Men's Rowing
Gennaro di Mauro, an incoming freshman who is representing Italy, advanced to the semifinals in the men's single sculls. He took third in his quarterfinal race, timed in 7:26.25, with the top three moving on to the next round.
 
Women's Rowing
Kara Kohler of the United States advanced to the semifinals in the women's single sculls with a second-place finish in her quarterfinal. In a tight race that saw the top three rowers cross the line within two seconds of each other, Kohler edged Yan Jiang of China and placed just behind Ireland's Sanita Puspure in 7:59.39. She will row for a spot in the final on Thursday.
 
"I was certainly very nervous," Kohler said. "I'll probably be very nervous for every race here, but my plan was to race for the full 2k and see how that went, so that's what I did."
 
Softball
Valerie Arioto helped the United States move to 4-0 in the Olympic tournament with a dramatic 2-1, 8-inning win over Australia. As a result, the Americans clinched a spot in the gold-medal game against Japan, the only other undefeated team at the Games. After the Aussies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth, the U.S. scored twice on a 2-RBI single from Amanda Chidester. Arioto, who was on deck with the winning run scored, was 0-for-3 at the plate and had four putouts at first base.
 
Men's Swimming
Cal's men's swimmers opened with four Bears in action, starting with incoming freshman Robin Hanson (Sweden), who placed 23rd in the 200-meter free in 1:47.02. Reigning Olympic champion Ryan Murphy advanced to the semifinals of the 100 backstroke as the seventh-fastest qualifier in 53.22. He'll be joined in the semis by Hugo Gonzalez (Spain), who will be seeded ninth after finishing in 53.45. Zheng Quah (Singapore) placed 22nd in the 100 back in 53.94.
 
Women's Swimming
In addition to Weitzeil, Stephanie Au (Hong Kong) took 26th in the 100 back in 1:01.07, while rising senior Ema Rajic, swimming for Croatia, was 33rd in the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.02. Rajic will return later in the meet to compete in the 50 free.
 
Men's Water Polo
Luca Cupido and Johnny Hooper combined for three goals – all in the fourth quarter – as the United States defeated host Japan, 15-13. Cupido had a pair of scores, while Hooper added one goal. The U.S. trailed, 8-7, at the half, before moving ahead, 11-10, at the end of the third quarter.
 
CalBears.com will have daily coverage of the Olympics, and fans can also follow the Golden Bears on Cal's social media accounts. All Olympic content can be found at CalBears.com/Olympics.