The No. 5 California women's swimming & diving team is set for its second-ever ACC Championship this week at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The competition is already underway with diving events beginning yesterday. The swimming events begin tomorrow with relays.
 
After day one of diving events, the Golden Bears sit in fifth place in the 10-team field with 26 points.
 
Meet Information
Sunday, February 15 – Saturday, February 21
ACC Championships
McAuley Aquatic Center | Atlanta, Georgia
Live Stream: ACCNX
Live Results: Sidearmstats
 
Schedule of Events (All Times PT) | PDF Schedule
Monday, Feb. 16
1-meter dive
Prelims - 9 a.m.  
Finals – 3:35 p.m.
 
Tuesday, Feb. 17
1-meter dive, 800 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay
Prelims – 7:30 a.m.  
Finals – 2:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 18
500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle
Prelims  - 6:30 a.m.
Finals (including 200 freestyle relay) - 2:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 19
100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 400 individual medley
Prelims - 6:30 a.m.
Finals - 2:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 20
200 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke
Prelims - 6:30 a.m.
Finals (including 400 medley relay) - 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 21
200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, platform diving
Prelims - 6:30 a.m.
Finals (including 400 freestyle relay) - 2:30 p.m. (1,650 free early heat - 11:30 a.m.)
 
The Bay > LA
Cal swept its two former conference foes down in Los Angeles on Jan. 16 and 17. The Bears defeated No. 11 USC 156-140 and UCLA 179-120 in a 24-hour period, winning 19 of the 32 events. Sophomore Mia West cracked two of the program's top-10 lists with the eighth-fastest 100-yard backstroke time (50.78) and the fourth-fastest 200 freestyle time (1:41.74). On the diving side, Ariana Drake finished first in the one-meter event against the Trojans with the fourth-highest score in program history at 289.50 and took second in the three meter at 292.20.
 
No Record Is Safe
In just four meets this season the Bears have recorded 14 top-10 times on Cal's all-time list. All 14 have been recorded by underclassmen including four by Claire Weinstein, three by Teagan O'Dell and two by Silje Slyngstadli, who are all freshmen. West has also collected four. Slyngstadli came the closest to breaking a program record, notching the second-fastest time in school history in the 100-yard breaststroke at 58.70.
 
Mid-Season Sweep
The Bears dominated their mid-season meet, the Minnesota Invitational, in early December, finishing first out of six teams and having the first-place finisher in every single "A" final. In total Cal won all 18 events and had 36 podium finishes. Freshman Claire Weinstein had a stellar weekend, winning five events with six podium finishes. She posted the third-fastest time in Cal history in both the 1650-yard freestyle (15:52.28) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:34.81).
 
Season-Opening W
Cal opened up the 2025-26 season with a first-place finish at UC San Diego's Triton Invitational, defeating the third-ranked Cardinal, host Tritons, Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara. Cal won 11 of the 15 events and led throughout the weekend, finishing with 1,202 points - 303.5 more points than second-place Stanford. Freshman Silje Slyngstadli got her first collegiate season started in stellar fashion, winning both the 100-yard (1:00.01) and 200-yard breaststrokes (2:11.23) with times that automatically qualified her for the NCAA Championships. Freshman Claire Weinstein (4:37.14) etched her name into Cal lore, recording the fifth-fastest time in program history in the 500-yard freestyle to win her first collegiate event. Freshman Teagan O'Dell won both the 400 IM (4:10.33) and the 200 backstroke (1:55.72), and the Bears won both relays on the weekend.
 
Returners
This season Cal returns a handful of difference makers like sophomore Mar-Ambre Moluh, a 2024 Paris Olympian for Team France, who etched her name into the program's top 10 lists six different times as a freshman last year including the fastest 100 breaststroke time in Cal history at 49.68. Compatriot Lilou Ressencourt, a senior, also returns after a stellar 2025 in which she broke the top 10 in both the 100 and 200 butterfly. Abby Herscu will compete in her senior season and lead the breaststroke group after qualifying for the A final at the 2025 NCAA Championships. She owns the third-best time by a Bear at 2:07.60.
 
New Faces
In addition to those familiar faces, a strong group of newcomers have joined the roster, including the top recruiting class the sport has ever seen. According to SwimSwam, Cal is bringing in three of the top five and five of the top 20 recruits in the country headlined by US National Team members Teagan O'Dell and Claire Weinstein, who are ranked second and third, respectively. O'Dell comes to Berkeley with times that would already qualify for the NCAA A final in the 200 IM, 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle, and holds the top times in her class in four different events. Weinstein is coming off of a silver-medal finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the first leg of the 800-freestyle relay team and has a diverse skill set being competitive in freestyle races of all distances.
 
Fifth-ranked recruit Annie Jia joins with impressive times in the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle, and 12th-ranked Elle Scott comes as the fastest 100 breaststroker in the class. Ella Cosgrove, who is ranked 18th, shows promise in the 200 and 500 freestyle.
 
Coming in at No. 5
The Bears began the season with their highest preseason ranking since 2019 at No. 5 in the CSCAA poll.
 
2024-25 Recap
The Bears had their best season in three years, placing eighth at the 2025 NCAA Championships. Cal accrued 16 All-American certificates at the meet and set a school record in the 200-yard medley relay. Senior Leah Polonsky had a memorable meet with two top-five finishes, and her 38 total points scored was the third most by a Cal women's swimmer at NCAAs in the past 10 years. In its first season competing in the ACC - arguably the top conference in the nation - Cal placed fourth in the team standings of the conference meet and produced five All-ACC performers. Senior Isabelle Stadden closed out a brilliant career with another strong season, including setting Spieker Aquatics Complex records in both the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke.
 
Stay Posted
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