ATLANTA – From the Olympics as a teenager, to a national championship as a freshman, Claire Weinstein headlined an unforgettable Friday for the No. 5 California Women's Swimming & Diving team. Weinstein won the 500-yard freestyle to claim the Golden Bears' first individual title in seven years and broke the program record on day three of the 2026 NCAA Championships at McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
"The last 75 yards of that race I was just replaying all of the special moments from this season," Weinstein said. "I never wanted something so bad, so I dug deep, and thought about all the people that came before me, all the women that made Cal swimming what it is. Now this team is moving in that direction."
 
The Team USA member and Paris Olympian posted a time of 4:36.66 in this morning's prelims to earn the sixth seed and qualify for a final for the third straight night. She was clearly saving her best for last as she dropped over six seconds off that time touching the wall at 4:30.09 which is a Cal program record, a McAuley Aquatic Center pool record, and the fastest time in the NCAA this season. Weinstein became Cal's first individual National Champion since Abbey Weitzeil won the 50 freestyle in 2019.
 
"Night one was really hard, Weinstein said. "The mile and the [200 freestyle] really beat me down so I have been trying to recover from that, but I just wanted to passionately swim this one and do it for my teammates and it worked out. I love these girls so much, they make going to practice worth it and swimming for your team is a different feeling, so I do it all for them."
 
Weinstein's swim of a lifetime was not the only program record broken Friday as the 400 IM quartet of Mary-Ambre Moluh, Annie Jia, Elle Scott, and Teagan O'Dell clocked a 3:25.09 to take sixth place and earn First Team All-America honors.
 
Moluh earned All-America honors as an individual earlier in the day as well earning a tie for fourth in the 100 backstroke at 49.95 and placing 12th in the 50 free with a time of 21.59.
 
Freshman Ella Cosrgrove picked up Second Team All-American honors placing 16th in the 500 free with a time of 4:39.19. Camille Henveaux (4:42.92) placed 31st, Alexa McDevitt (4:43.17) took 33rd, and Kathryn Hazle (4:44.77) finished 42nd.
 
Cal had four competitors in the 200 breaststroke as well led by Abby Herscu who completed her final collegiate race in 23rd with a time of 2:09.53 and was followed by Silje Slyngstadli (2:09.60) in 25th, Elle Scott (2:11.16) in 43rd, and Hazle (2:12.61) in 51st.
 
The meet concludes tomorrow with the 200 IM, 100 free, 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke, and 400 free relay taking place on the final day of the season. Cal currently sits in 6^th place with 199 points and will be looking for its highest finish since it was the national runner-up in 2019.
 
Ten different Bears will be competing in the prelims which begin at 7 a.m. PT with the finals following later at 3 p.m. PT on ESPN+.