The No. 5 California men's swimming & diving team will host its first home meet of the season against No. 16 USC at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley on Friday. Coverage will be available via ACCNX/ESPN+ and on Meet Mobile.
 
FRIDAY, JAN. 17
Cal vs. USC |  1 P.M. PT | Spieker Aquatics Complex | Berkeley, Calif.
Live Stream: ACCNX/ESPN+
Live Results: Meet Mobile
                                                                                                              
LAST TIME IN THE POOL
Last time out, Cal topped the standings at the end of the four-day Minnesota Invitational after winning 16 events and earning a final team score of 2096. On the final day, the Bears claimed five first-place finishes to secure the convincing victory. Matthew Chai won the 1,650-yard freestyle while Keaton Jones took first place honors in the 200-yard backstroke. Destin Lasco claimed first in the 100-yard freestyle and Yamato Okadome earned his second victory of the meet after winning the 200-yard breaststroke. Cal ended the meet after securing first in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
In the lastest CSCAA Top-25 Poll released on Dec. 19, the Bears checked in at No. 5 (316). Filling out the top five were No. 1 Texas (375), No. 2 Indiana (346),  No. 3 Arizona State (342) and No. 4 Florida (335).
 
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK
So far this season, eight different Bears have landed on the program's all-time top-10 list. Gabriel Jett has posted top 10 times in two events - he is third in the 100-yard backstroke (44.54) while being tied for fifth in the 200-yard backstroke (1.38.31). Evan Petty sits seventh in the 100-yard backstroke (44.97). In an impressive freshman campaign, Yamato Okadome is fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (50.87) and tenth in the 200-yard breaststroke (1.52.40). Hank Rivers and Luca Pusateri Gissendaner find themselves in the 100-yard breaststroke rankings - Rivers is tied for eighth (51.63) and Gissendaner is tenth (51.80). Humberto Najera is currently ninth in the 400-yard individual medley (3:41.25) while Jack Clark is seventh in the 3-meter dive (327.15).
 
WEEKLY HONORS
On Nov. 11, Thai became the first Bear to receive an ACC weekly award when he was named the conference's men's diver of the week after a stellar season debut in the tri-meet against Arizona State and Stanford. He competed in two events – winning the three-meter dive with a score of 343.80 while earning a third-place finish in the one-meter dive with a score of 295.70.
 
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Two current Cal swimmers returned to Berkeley after reaching the podium on several occasions at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships (25m) in Budapest, Hungary, last month. Jack Alexy earned a total of five medals while setting records in the process. Alexy helped Team USA set a world record in the 4x100m freestyle relay in a time of 3:01.66 en route to gold. His 45.05 split set an American and championship record. Alexy earned his second gold medal in the 100m freestyle after touching first in a time of 45.38 while claiming bronze in the 50m freestyle with a time of 20.61. Alexy and Dare Rose joined forces on the 4x100m mixed medley relay (3:30.55) and the 4x100 medley relay (3.19.03) to help Team USA secure silver in each event.
 
GOING FOR GOLD
A total of 11 current and former Cal swimmers punched their tickets to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris while Director of Swimming & Diving David Durden was named assistant coach for the United States, marking his third time as a member of the coaching staff for the U.S. Jack Alexy and Hunter Armstrong, a member of California's postgraduate training group, won gold medals as members of the United States men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay team. Cal alum Ryan Murphy earned gold in the 4x100 mixed medley relay while taking the bronze in the 100-meter backstroke. Murphy, Armstrong and Alexy brought home the silver medal in the 4x100 men's medley relay. Brooks Curry, also a member of California's postgraduate training group, won silver in the 4x200 freestyle relay.
 
U.S NATIONAL TEAM
USA Swimming announced the 2024-2025 U.S National Team roster last month, featuring nine current and former Cal swimmers. The current Golden Bears selected include Jack Alexy, Dare Rose, Keaton Jones and Destin Lasco. Former Bears include Hunter Armstrong, Liam Bell, Brooks Curry, Trenton Julian and Ryan Murphy.
 
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