LOS ANGELES – The No. 7 California women's swimming & diving team opened 2026 with a road win over No. 11 USC on Friday at Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles. Despite competing short-handed with several Golden Bears at the USA Swimming Pro Swim Series, Cal was able to win eight events and knock off the host Trojans 156-144.
 
Cal began the second half of the season with a one-two finish in the 400-yard medley relay. The quartet of Mary-Ambre Moluh, Silje Slyngstadli, Annie Jia, and Mia West took first with an NCAA qualifying time of 3:30.32. The B team of Finley Anderson, Elle Scott, Lilou Ressencourt, and Gracyn Aquino finished second at 3:36.05.
 
Freshman Ella Cosgrove was the first individual winner of the day taking the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:40.58. and Camille Henveaux touched the wall at 9:43.15 to take third place. Cosgrove found the podium again later in the day placing second in the 500 free with a time of 4:42.33.
 
One of the top performers of the day was West as the sophomore placed second in the 200 free with the fourth-fastest in Cal history at 1:41.74. She followed that up with another personal-best time of 47.51 to win 100 free and was the anchor of both winning relay teams. She secured a 46.87 split as the anchor of the 400 free relay team.
 
On the diving side, Ariana Drake finished first in the one-meter event with the fourth-highest score in program history at 289.50 and took second in the three meter at 292.20. It's Drake's first collegiate win in that event and third overall.
 
Sophomore Mary-Ambre Moluh had a pair of individual wins taking both the 100 back (51.24) and the 200 back (1:53.48). In the 200-yard race Moluh used a personal-best time to out-touch the Trojans' Dora Molnar by one hundredth of a second in a true photo finish. Moluh was also on both winning relay teams.
 
The Bears came in clutch down the stretch of the meet earning key points in the final three events. Jia (51.37) and Ressencourt (52.54) took gold and silver in the 100 butterfly to put Cal up by six points with two events to go. Kathryn Hazle (4:08.34) and Alexa McDevitt (4:14.34) then kept their team ahead placing second and third in the 400 individual medley.
 
It all came down to the final event, the 400 free relay where the A team of Moluh, Ressencourt, Jia, and West posted time of 3:11.69 to win the race and seal the dual. The B team of Aquino, Scott, Charlotte Burnham, and Cosgrove placed third at 3:18.81 for good measure to secure the final points of the afternoon.
 
The Bears are back in the pool tomorrow to face UCLA at Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles. The first event is set for 11 a.m. PT.