2023 Men’s Pac-12 Championships Fan Guide: Cal Looking to Hold Off Surging Sun Devils

2023 MEN’S PAC-12 SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, March 1 – Saturday, March 4, 2023
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way, WA
• Defending Champions
  • Men: Cal (5x)
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide
• Psych Sheets

EVENT SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY – 3/1

• 200 Medley Relay
• 800 Free Relay

THURSDAY – 3/2

• 500 Free
• 200 IM
• 50 Free
• 200 Free Relay

FRIDAY – 3/3

• 400 IM
• 100 Fly
• 200 Free
• 100 Breast
• 100 Back
• 400 Medley Relay

SATURDAY – 3/4

• 1650 Free
• 200 back
• 100 Free
• 200 Breast
• 200 Fly
• 400 Free Relay

2022 REVIEW

FINAL STANDINGS

1. Cal – 853.5
2. Stanford – 760
3. Arizona State – 652
4. USC – 449
5. Arizona – 423.5
6. Utah – 264

Cal won their fifth-straight men’s Pac-12 title last year, beating runner-up Stanford by nearly 100 points. Stanford was riding an excellent group of underclassmen, while Arizona State was on the rise in their first year back after taking the 2020-2021 season off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cal was on their way to winning the 2022 NCAA Championships, beating Texas by 50 points. The Pac-12 had a strong showing as a whole at NCAAs, with all six teams scoring, making them the only conference to have every team score at NCAAs. Arizona State came in sixth, while Stanford took seventh. Arizona also finished in the top 20, finishing 17th.

SWIMMERS TO WATCH

ARIZONA: Brooks Taner (Jr. – Fly/IM), Seth Miller (Jr. – Free/BF), Ty Coen (Fifth – Back/Fly), Ryan Perham (Jr. – Free/Fly)

Junior Brooks Taner is one of the leading Wildcats this season. He enters these Pac-12 Championships ranked sixth in the conference this season in the 200 fly. Last year, the 100 fly was Taner’s top event at Pac-12s. he made the ‘A’ final, where he would finish eighth in finals. Taner also won the ‘B’ final (ninth overall) of the 200 fly, and came in 15th in the 200 IM.

Another junior, Seth Miller, is looking to build on his performances from last year. In 2022, Miller was a ‘B’ finalist in the 50 free and 100 fly. He also was a ‘C’ finalist in the 100 free. He enters this year’s championships as Arizona’s top 100 flyer this season, coming in at 11th in the conference.

Ryan Perham, also a junior, is in good shape heading into the meet. Perham made the ‘B’ final of the 50 free and ‘C’ finals in the 100 free and 100 fly last year. This season, he comes into the meet as Arizona’s top sprinter, sitting at fourth in the Pac-12 this year with a 19.39 50 free. That alone looks good as the meet approaches, but Perham is also currently 12th in the conference in the 100 fly, so we should see some good improvement for him over last year.

Ty Coen, a fifth year for the Wildcats, made ‘B’ finals in the 100 fly, 100 back, and 200 back last season. He enters his final Pac-12 Championships as the Wildcats’ top 200 backstroker this season.

ARIZONA STATE: Leon Marchand (So. – whatever he wants to swim), Grant House (Fifth – Free/IM), Hubert Kos (Fr. – Back/IM/Fly), Jack Dolan (Sr. – Back/Free)

Leon Marchand stands alone in a field of stars. The French superstar has proven this year that he can swim nearly every event at an elite level. Marchand currently leads the Pac-12 in the 500 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM, notably having broken the NCAA Record in the 400 IM with a 3:31.84 in January.

Regardless of which events Marchand swims at these championships, he will be chasing titles.

Fifth year Grant House is always a force to be reckoned with as well. Last year as a senior, House won the 200 free, came in second in the 100 free, and second in the 200 IM. House leads the Pac-12 in the 200 free this season as well.

Freshman Hubert Kos is looking to make an impact in his first Pac-12 Championships. The Hungarian star is ranked fourth in the 200 back in the conference this season and seventh in the 200 fly. He’s also ranked third in the 400 IM and fourth in the 200 IM so far this season.

Jack Dolan was a star for the Sun Devils last year as well. He took third in the 50 free, fifth in the 100 free, and fifth in the 100 back.

CALIFORNIA: Hugo Gonzalez (Fifth – IM/Breast), Gabriel Jett (So. – Free/Fly), Bjorn Seeliger (Jr. – Free/Back), Reece Whitley (Fifth – Breast/IM), Destin Lasco (Jr. – Back/IM)

Defending champions Cal will be helped greatly by fifth years Hugo Gonzalez and Reece Whitley. Last year, Whitley won the 100 breast and finished third in the 200 breast. Gonzalez took second in the 400 IM and 200 breast, also finishing seventh in the 200 IM.

Bjorn Seeliger was a triple event winner last year. As a sophomore, Seeliger earned titles in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back. Notably, the 100 back was a new event for Seeliger at the time, and he still managed to swim a 44.72 in the event. Seeliger leads the Pac-12 in the 50 free and 100 free this season.

Gabriel Jett was solid last year as a freshman for the Golden Bears, then really took off over this past summer. Last year, Jett took fourth in the 200 fly and sixth in the 200 free. This year, Jett enters the meet ranked third in the conference in the 200 free, seventh in the 500 free, and tenth in the 200 fly.

Destin Lasco is always one to watch as well. Last year, Lasco won the 200 back, took second in the 100 back, and came in fourth in the 200 IM. He’s currently leading the Pac-12 in the 200 back this season, and is ranked second in the 100 back and 200 IM.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Artem Selin (So. – Free), Chris O’Grady (So. – Breast/IM), Ben Dillard (Jr. – Breast/IM), Evangelos Makrygiannis (So. – Back)

Sophomore Artem Selin has become a force to be reckoned with in the sprint events. Selin enters these championships as the fifth-fastest 50 freestyler in the Pac-12 this season. Selin was an ‘A’ finalist in the 50 free last year as a freshman, finishing eighth.

Chris O’Grady and Ben Dillard also make a great breaststroke duo for the Trojans. Last year, O’Grady took second in the 100 breast, while Dillard came in eighth. In the 200 breast, O’Grady finished fifth and Dillard seventh. Dillard was also a ‘B’ finalist in the 200 IM last year.

Evangelos Makrygiannis was an ‘A’ finalist in the 200 back last year as a freshman, coming in sixth. He also made the ‘B’ final of the 100 back.

STANFORD: Leon MacAlister (Sr. – Back/Free), Ron Polonsky (So. – IM/Breast), Andrei Minakov (So. – Fly/Free), Preston Forst (Jr. – Free/Fly)

Senior Leon MacAlister was excellent at the 2022 Pac-12 Championships. He finished third in the 100 back and third in the 200 back. He also helped both of Stanford’s medley relays to victory over tough Cal squads.

Sophomore Ron Polonsky had a terrific last year as a freshman, making the ‘A’ final in all three of his events. He took third in the 200 IM, fourth in the 400 IM, and eighth in the 200 breast. Polonsky is once again looking like one of the top IM’ers in the Pac-12 this season.

Of course, there’s also Andrei Minakov, the star sophomore flyer. Last year, Minakov won the 100 fly in 43.90, finishing as the only swimmer in the event under 45 seconds. He also came in second in the 50 free and won the ‘B’ final of the 100 free.

Preston Forst won the 500 free last year as a sophomore, also finishing second in the 200 free and fifth in the 200 fly.

UTAH: Finn O’Haimhirgin (Sr. – Free), Jaek Horner (Sr. – Breast/IM), Evan Van Brocklin (Fr. – Free/Fly/IM), Andrei Ungur (Fifth – Back/Free)

Andrei Ungur returns as a fifth-year to the Utes. Ungur was a leader in the pool for Utah last year, making the ‘A’ final of the 100 back. While he swam the 100 free over the 200 back at last year’s meet, it looks like Ungur may be making a switch this year, as he’s currently the ninth-fastest 200 backstroker in the conference this season. Couple that with his fifth-ranked 100 back in the Pac-12 this year and the super senior is poised to go out with a bang this week.

Another bright spot on the roster in Jaek Horner, who is in his senior season. Last year, Horner won the ‘B’ final of the 100 breast at Pac-12s. Horner has been exceptional this season, however, coming in as the third-fastest 100 breaststroker in the conference this season with a 51.88. For reference, that time is nearly a second faster than the 52.69 Horner swam to win the ‘B’ final at Pac-12s last year. He also comes in as the fifth-ranked 200 breaststroker in the conference this season, so we should expect a big step forward over last year for Horner.

Finn O’Haimhirgin has been a great sprinter for the Utes during his collegiate career. He made ‘C’ finals of the 50 free and 100 free last year but appears in position to move up this season.

Freshman Evan Van Brocklin also looks like he’s going to make a statement in his first Pac-12 Championships. Van Brocklin comes into his first conference meet ranked ninth in the Pac-12 this season in the 400 IM. He’s also the 14th-fastest 500 freestyler in the conference this year.

SHOWDOWNS:

400 IM

The 400 IM is set to feature another showdown between Arizona State’s Leon Marchand and Cal’s Hugo Gonzalez. These two have become an epic rivalry in the event, with both having held the NCAA Record in the event at one point. Last year, Marchand got the better of Gonzalez at Pac-12s, winning the race in 3:34.45, which was a Pac-12 Record. Gonzalez came in second at 3:36.54.

Then, Gonzalez had the upper hand at NCAAs last year, winning the event in a new NCAA Record of 3:32.88. Marchand was faster than he was at Pac-12s, swimming a 3:34.08.

In January of this year, Marchand ripped off a 3:31.84, taking over a second off Gonzalez’s NCAA Record.

100 Back

The 100 back is set up to be another great race between Cal teammates Destin Lasco and Bjorn Seeliger. Notably, Leon Marchand leads the Pac-12 this season with a 44.77, but it’s unlikely he would swim the event at this meet.

Lasco is second in the conference this season, having been 44.88, while Seeliger is third at 45.23.

Last year, Seeliger broke out in the event, winning the Pac-12 title with a 44.72. Lasco came in second at 45.11. Lasco was faster at NCAAs last year, however, finishing fourth with a 44.36, while Seeliger came in eighth with a 44.87.

SWIMSWAM’S PREDICTIONS

1. Cal
2. Arizona State
3. Stanford
4. USC
5. Arizona
6. Utah

Cal is still an incredibly loaded roster, enough so that they should be viewed as the favorites coming into the meet. Arizona State did turn heads in January, however, throwing down some shockingly fast times in dual meets. Because of how well ASU has been swimming and the additions from last year, we’re projecting the Sun Devils to move up to second.

That being said, Stanford still has a great roster, and the score between them and Arizona State will likely be close.

USC is looking primed to improve on last year’s score, but at this point it seems unlikely they would be able to move up any spots in the standings.