SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Cal men's swimmer Josh Prenot continued to build momentum for a strong final season in Berkeley with a December to remember and the senior from Orcutt, Calif. was rewarded for his efforts as he earned Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month honors from the conference office.
A strong performance at the Georgia Fall Invitational on Dec. 4-6 got the month off to a good start for Prenot, who helped the Bears place second as a team at their final meet of 2015. He set the top time in the nation in both the 200-yard individual medley (1:43.13) and 200 breaststroke (1:51.75) while also achieving an A qualifying standard in the 400 IM. His success wasn't solely individual, as he teamed with Ryan Murphy, Justin Lynch and Long Gutierrez to also set the nation's top time (3:04.88) in the 400 medley relay.
While his performance in Georgia might have been enough to earn an award on its own, Prenot turned his attention to international competition to finish out the year. He competed as part of Team USA at the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool in Indianapolis from Dec. 11-12 and brought home another victory, scoring maximum points for his country with a win in the 200-meter individual medley. A disqualification of Ryan Lochte pushed Prenot to the top step of the podium, but that didn't take anything away from an impressive swim as his time of 1:53.09 was good enough to beat Olympic medalist Conor Dwyer and 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Dan Wallace of Great Britain. Prenot finished the meet as Team USA's seventh-highest scorer on a team of 17 swimmers.
The award is Prenot's second monthly honor as a Bear and second in 2015 after winning it for a strong performance in January. It also marks the seventh time a Cal swimmer has earned conference swimmer of the month.
A strong December should only help set the stage for what Prenot and the Bears hope will be a spring season filled with success. Cal returns to competition on Jan. 22 and 23 when it hosts Arizona and Arizona State in the final home dual meets of the 2015-16 season. The Bears finish the dual season with trips to Cal State Bakersfield, USC and Stanford, then head to the Pac-12 Championships in Washington on the first weekend in March. The NCAA Championships are set for March 24-26 in Atlanta, Ga.
