MINNEAPOLIS – The second-ranked California men's swimming & diving team put on a tremendous performance on the second day of the Minnesota Invite at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatics Center.

Junior Bjorn Seeliger was victorious in the 50 freestyle, finishing with a season-best time of 18.87, over a half-second faster than the field. The time is good for third in the country and an NCAA A qualifying time.

Jack Alexy captured fourth in the 50 free, he finished with a time of 19.49. Good enough for an NCAA B standard qualifying time.

In the 200 individual medley, Destin Lasco took first with a time of 1:41.52, an NCAA B standard qualifying time. Lasco's freestyle split of 23.40 was the fastest in the event and helped him pull away from runner-up Jake Foster from Texas.

Chris Jhong took eighth in the event, his time of 1:46.42 was also good enough for an NCAA B qualifying time.

Cal wrapped up the evening by taking first in the 200 free relay. Cal's quartet of Alexy, Seeliger, Robin Hanson, and Lasco finished with a time of 1:16.46, an NCAA A qualifying time. The Bears came back from fourth thanks to a pair of sub-19 splits turned in by Seeliger and Lasco. Seeliger's time of 18.47 was faster than his time in the 50 free earlier in the evening.

Cal's "B" relay took fifth in the event. The lineup of Liam Bell, Matthew Jensen, Dare Rose, and Colby Hatton combined to finish with a time of 1:18.00.

In the 500 free Patrick Callan took seventh with a time of 4:21.27. Gabriel Jett took eighth with a time of 4:22.26 – both times were good enough for NCAA B qualifying times.

In the driving competition, freshman Joshua Thai became the first Golden Bear diver to win an event since Connor Callahan won twice against USC on Feb. 8, 2019.

Thai entered the finals in eighth place after scoring 261.45. In the finals, he finished with a season-best score of 346.46, a Zone Championship mark. The native of had four dives that were the top drive of the round, he finished with five dives overall that had a score of 55.0 or better. His top dive came in his second attempt, a reverse 2 ½ somersault tuck which resulted in a score of 66.00.


UP NEXT
Day three of the Minnesota Invite begins tomorrow morning with the prelims of the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke. The prelims for the 100 fly begins at 10:09 a.m. CST/8:09 a.m. PT.

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