INDIANAPOLIS – The California swimming & diving team extended its dynastic run of finishing in the top-2 of the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships to 14 consecutive years on Saturday, finishing in second place with a team score of 444.5 points. The final day saw senior Destin Lasco set the American and NCAA record in the 200-yard backstroke completing a three-peat in the event. Ten other Golden Bears earned All-American honors, including a pair of divers for the first time in the David Durden era.
 
Lasco entered the A-Final of the 200 back as the top seed after setting a personal-best time and an IU Natatorium pool record time of 1:36.05 in the prelims. In the finals, he set the new American, NCAA, US Open, pool, and program records with a time of 1:35.37. Lasco dethroned former Golden Bear Ryan Murphy who set the previous American record in 2016 with a time of 1:35.73. Lasco becomes just the seventh swimmer all-time to win the title three or more times.
 
Keaton Jones and Colby Mefford also earned All-American honors in the 200 back. The duo finished second and sixth, respectively, in the consolation final. Jones finished with a time of 1:38.46 to capture his second All-American honors of the meet. Mefford finished with a time of 1:39.91 earning him second-team honors for the second consecutive year.
 
Cal's divers made recent history. For the first time since reliable records, and is believed to be the first time ever, two Bears earned All-American honors. Joshua Thai earned Second Team All-American honors finishing 10th overall with a personal-best score of 394.50. That score was temporarily the program record until teammate Geoffrey Vavitsas scored 404.90 in the A-Final to finish in fifth place. Vavitsas was the only freshman in the A-Final, while Thai became the first Cal diver to earn All-American honors in back-to-back years since Sam Helvie did it from 2006-08.
 
In the 100 free Jack Alexy and Bjorn Seeliger earned First Team All-American honors. Alexy captured third with a time of 40.59, a new program record. Seeliger earns All-American honors for the fourth time in this event, finishing in eighth place with a time of 41.80. Matthew Jensen earned second-team honors finishing seventh in the consolation final with a time of 41.76.
 
Dare Rose finished the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:38.61 – the second fastest time in program history en route to a third-place finish. Teammate Gabriel Jett finished just behind him in fifth place with a time of 1:39.72.
 
In his final event as a Golden Bear, Liam Bell finished fourth in the 200 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:50.15.
 
In the final event of the evening, the 400 free relay, the quartet of Alexy, Lasco, Jensen, and Seeliger finished in third place with a time of 2:44.46.
 
Arizona State won its first NCAA Championship, finishing with a final score of 523.5. Behind the Bears was Florida (378 points), Indiana (376), and NC State (318).
 
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