FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 2
NO. 7 CAL AT 2024 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS | WEYERHAEUSER KING COUNTY AQUATIC CENTER | FEDERAL WAY, WASH.
TV: PAC-12 NETWORKS, PAC-12 NOW APP | LIVE RESULTS: PAC-12.COM

 
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday, Feb. 28
200 medley relay - 6 p.m.
800 freestyle relay - 7 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 29
500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle - Prelims 10:30 a.m.; Finals (including 200 freestyle relay) 6 p.m.
1M diving - Prelims 1:45 p.m.; Finals 4:20 p.m.

Friday, March 1
400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke - Prelims 10:30 a.m.; Finals (including 400 medley relay) 6 p.m.
3M diving - Prelims 12:15 p.m.; Finals 6 p.m.

Saturday, March 2
200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly - Prelims 10:30 a.m.; Finals (including 400 freestyle relay) 6 p.m.
Platform diving - Prelims Noon; Finals 6 p.m.



The surging No. 7 California women's swimming & diving team will be eyeing a conference title this week when it travels to Federal Way, Washington, for the 2024 Pac-12 Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

The Golden Bears are coming off an impressive dual meet victory over No. 5 Stanford that closed out the regular season earlier this month. Cal set four pool records at Spieker Aquatics Complex during the 155.5-144.5 victory and had several student-athletes establish marks that were among the top 10 all-time best in program history.

Cal finished in third place at last year's Pac-12 meet, just seven points behind second-place USC. Prior to that, the Bears had finished in the top-two in 12 of the previous 14 seasons, including five conference championships.

The meet begins Wednesday with the 200-yard medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay. Individual events get started Thursday and run through Saturday with preliminaries in the morning and finals in the evening. Each finals session will also include a relay event.

The Pac-12 Networks will carry all swimming prelims and finals as well as Thursday's 1-meter diving final, and they are also available on the Pac-12 Now app. Friday's 3-meter diving finals and Saturday's platform diving finals are being carried on the Pac-12 Now app and at Pac-12.com.

THE BEARS AT PAC-12S: Cal has won five conference championships all-time as well as 160 individual or relay titles in program history. At the 2023 Pac-12 Championships, Leah Polonsky swept the individual medley titles, winning the 200 IM with a time of 1:54.02 and the 400 IM at 4:05.27. Cal also captured the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:35.40. The Bears have two other current swimmers who have captured Pac-12 championships - Isabelle Stadden in the 200 backstroke (2021, 2022) and Rachel Klinker in the 200 butterfly (2021).

TOP TIMES: The Bears enter the week with several of the top times in the conference this season. Senior Isabelle Stadden leads the Pac-12 in both the 100 back (50.23, No. 4 nationally) and 200 back (1:49.21, No. 3 nationally) while graduate student Rachel Klinker paces the conference in the 200 fly (1:52.33, No. 6 nationally). Junior Mia Kragh also leads the Pac-12 in the 100 fly with a time of 51.20 (No. 12 nationally).

RESHAPING PROGRAM TOP-10S: The Bears have had several swims this year that have reshaped the program's all-time top-10 list in different events. Junior Fanni Fabian (9:44.94) and freshman Kathryn Hazle (9:45.19) moved into the No. 5 and No. 6 spot, respectively, in the 1,000 free while Isabelle Stadden improved on her backstroke marks and is No. 4 all-time at Cal in the 200 back (1:49.21) and No. 5 in the 100 back (50.26). The Bears also have three new entries into their all-time top-10 in both breaststroke events - No. 4 Jade Neser (59.47), No. 5 Hannah Brunzell (59.50) and No. 7 Alicia Henry (59.62) in the 100 breast and No. 4 Brunzell (2:09.70), No. 5 Henry (2:08.84) and No. 10 Abby Herscu (2:10.75) in the 200 breast. Junior Mia Kragh is also now No. 9 all-time at Cal in the 100 fly (51.20) and junior Leah Polonsky has moved into ninth in the 200 fly (1:53.89). Finally, Hazle is also No. 8 at Cal in the 400 IM (4:08.70) and diver Ariana Drake moved into No. 6 in the 3-meter event with 309.75 points.

SPIEKER SUPERLATIVES: The Bears tore up the Spieker Aquatics Complex record book during their final dual meet of the regular season against Stanford, setting four new pool marks during their victory over the Cardinal. Senior Isabelle Stadden broke her own records in the 100 back (50.29) and 200 back (1:49.64) while graduate student Mia Motekaitis set the complex benchmark in the 200 free (1:42.89) that was previously held by former Stanford star Katie Ledecky. Mia Kragh also broke her own pool mark in the 100 fly with a 51.20.

STADDEN NAMED PAC-12 SWIMMER OF THE WEEK: Senior Isabelle Stadden was named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week on Feb. 20 following her performance against Stanford. In addition to victories that set pool records at Spieker Aquatics Complex in the 100 and 200 backstroke events, she also picked up a victory as part of the Bears' 200 medley relay team. Stadden has two career Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week awards as well as two Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month honors.

A WEEK TO REMEMBER: Graduate student Rachel Klinker had a memorable week earlier this month. It started with an eye-opening performance at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, where she had the second-best time in the semifinals of the 200 butterfly with a personal long course best time of 2:07.70. She ended up placing fourth in the finals. Klinker then flew back to the Bay Area and arrived about 24 hours before Cal's dual meet with Stanford, where she put up the fourth-fastest time in the nation this season in the 200 fly (1:52.33).

DIVE RIGHT IN: Freshmen Caroline Li and Ariana Drake each won diving events during Cal's dual meet against Arizona State last month, marking the first time a Cal women's diver has won an event since Briana Thai three seasons ago. Li took the 1-meter event with a score of 247.73 while Drake finished first in the 3-meter at 307.35. Drake improved on that score while taking second earlier this month against Stanford, scoring 309.75 points - the No. 6 all-time best mark in the event in Cal history.

NEW-LOOK STAFF: The Bears have a new look on deck this season with the addition of Associate Head Coach Josh Huger and Assistant Coaches Kim Williams and Noah Yanchulis. Huger spent the past four seasons at Tennessee, whose women's program finished in the top-10 nationally every year he was there. Last year, he helped the Vols' men's program to a seventh-place finish – its best in seven years. Huger also helped coach Tennessee's Jordan Crooks, the 2023 SEC Swimmer of the Year, to the 2023 NCAA championship in the 50 free. Williams was a three-time NCAA champion and six-time All-American as a swimmer at Stanford who spent last season as a volunteer assistant coach at Northwestern. Yanchulis spent the past five years on the coaching staff at Division II Oklahoma Christian and was a two-time Big East Most Outstanding Swimmer as a student-athlete at Seton Hall.

ON THE MARK: The Bears recently won the Newmark Award for large women's teams at Cal, given annually to the program with the best cumulative GPA on campus. The awards are broken up by gender and size, and the Bears had the top cumulative GPA of any women's team at Cal that features a roster of at least 25 student-athletes. The Newmark Awards were established in 2007 by Pat and Kent Newmark in an effort to recognize team academic success at Cal.

SCHOLARLY SWIMMERS: The Bears were named a CSCAA Fall Scholar All-America Team earlier this month, giving the program 28 straight semesters of earning the honor. Last season, Cal had 14 student-athletes earn spots on the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team. Student-athletes who earned at least a 3.5 grade point average and participated at their national championship were named to the First Team. Those who had a 3.5 GPA and achieved a "B" time standard for their national championship or participated at a diving zone qualification meet were named to the Second Team.


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