2024 NCAA WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
GABRIELSEN NATATORIUM | ATHENS, GA. 
MARCH 20-23 | 7 A.M. PT (PRELIMS); 3 P.M. PT (FINALS)
TV: ESPN+ | LIVE SCORING: CALBEARS.COM 
  


ATHENS, Ga. - The No. 4 California women's swimming & diving team looks to carry its late-season momentum into this week's 2024 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at the University of Georgia, fresh off a stirring Pac-12 championship and a roster full of athletes swimming their best times of the season.

The Golden Bears have 15 individuals qualified for the NCAA meet, tied for the second most in the country. They are led by senior Isabelle Stadden, who is seeded second in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events. Stadden won both backstroke championships at the Pac-12 Championships earlier this month.

Graduate student Rachel Klinker is the No. 3 seed in the 200 butterfly while junior Leah Polonsky is seeded sixth in the 200 individual medley and 10th in the 400 IM. Graduate student Mia Motekaitis is the No. 9 seed in the 200 freestyle and junior Mia Kragh is seeded 10th in the 100 butterfly.

Along with Stadden, Klinker won the Pac-12 title in the 200 butterfly while Kragh took the conference crown in the 100 fly.
 

BEARS WIN FIRST PAC-12 TITLE IN THREE YEARS: Cal's late-season surge hit a crescendo at the Pac-12 Championships earlier this month as the Bears ran away with the conference championship for the first time since the 2021 season. Cal took home four individual titles while also capturing the 200 medley relay with a meet record of 1:33.89.

Cal established the lead after the first day of the meet and never relinquished it, supporting its individual championships with strong results throughout the meet that demonstrated a depth unmatched in the Pac-12.
 

STACKING UP RACES: The Bears feature seven swimmers who have qualified for the NCAA Championships in more than one event, with Polonsky (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 butterfly) and Motekaitis (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 backstroke) leading the way with three each. Stadden (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke), Klinker (200 butterfly, 500 freestyle), graduate student Hannah Brunzell (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke), graduate student Eloise Riley (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle) and junior Alicia Henry (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke) are each slated to compete in two events.

Cal will also compete in all five relays.
 

RESHAPING PROGRAM TOP 10S: The Bears not only won the Pac-12 championship, they continued their late-season trend of reeking havoc on the program's all-time top-10 list. Cal had 13 swims that qualified as all-time top-10 times, highlighted by its meet-record setting time of 1:33.89 in the 200 medley relay, which is good for second all time for the program. Klinker's championship time in the 200 butterfly is also second at Cal, while junior Alicia Henry recorded the third-fastest time in program history in the 200 breaststroke (2:07.89).

Other program top-10 times registered at the Pac-12 meet included Hannah Brunzell in the 200 breast (2:08.82, 4th) and 100 breast (59.47, 4th), Abby Herscu in the 200 breast (2:09.53, 7th), Leah Polonsky in the 200 IM (1:53.58, t-6th), the 400 medley relay (3:28.05, 7th), Mia Kragh in the 100 butterfly (50.89, 8th), Mia Motekaitis in the 500 free (4:37.77, 8th), Klinker in the 500 free (4:37.89, 9th) and Stephanie Akakabota in the 50 free (22.02, 10th).

Previous additions to the program's all-time top-10 list in the 1,000 free late in the season included junior Fanni Fabian (9:44.94, No. 5) and freshman Kathryn Hazle (9:45.19, 6th), while 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). Senior Jade Neser also put up the fourth-best time at Cal in the 100 breast (59.47). Finally, Hazle is also No. 8 at Cal in the 400 IM (4:08.70).
 

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 freestyle (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.
 

A WEEK TO REMEMBER: Graduate student Rachel Klinker had a memorable week last 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, against which she put up the fourth-fastest time in the nation this season in the 200 fly (1:52.33).
 

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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