Andrew Seliskar, Abbey Weitzeil Rule the Pool at Cal Season Kick-Off

KING/QUEEN OF THE POOL

• Friday, September 21, 2018
• Results on Meet Mobile ‘2018 CAL POLY vs CAL Queen & King of the Pool’
• SCY
• Format: 100 of each stroke + IM, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay

At the annual kick-off event for Cal Berkeley and Cal Poly, the king and queen of the pool were named in a pentathlon of sorts. All swimmers race a 100 of each stroke, plus a 100 IM, and mixed 200 medley and free relays were also contested.

KINGS AND QUEENS OF THE POOL

Andrew Seliskar, to little surprise, utilized his incredible versatility to sail to the crown, while Abbey Weitzeil, who is strong in more than just freestyle (she swam breast on Cal’s 200 medley relay last year at NCAAs), earned queen status on the women’s side. Neither of them are repeat champs from last year, as Matthew Josa won the men’s title and Kathleen Baker the women’s.

Seliskar was 48.30 in fly, 49.18 in back, 54.91 in breast, 44.06 in free, and rounded it out with a 49.25 in the IM. He won the free and IM races. Weitzeil, meanwhile, was 58.15 in fly, 56.47 in back, 1:03.35 in breast, 49.38 in free, and 56.87 in IM, winning all but the butterfly, where she was 10th.

MEN’S MEET RECAP

On the men’s side, Zheng Quah was very strong in several events. He won the 100 fly (47.30), a full second clear of 2nd place Seliskar, and he was back the next event to win the 100 back in 48.23. Cal’s Bryce Mefford (48.33) and Mike Thomas (48.67) were also strong in the fly, while Daniel Carr (48.27), Thomas (48.41) and Mefford (48.58) followed closely behind in the 100 back. Quah was just edged by Seliskar in the 100 IM, too, 49.25 to 49.43, with Mefford 3rd in 50.23.

Reece Whitley took the men’s 100 breast, as the Cal freshman exerted a 54.33 effort to out-touch seniors Carson Sand (54.70) and Seliskar (54.91). Seliskar’s 44.06 had Michael Jensen (44.44), Quah (44.73) and Pawel Sendyk (44.79) in tow.

WOMEN’S MEET RECAP

For the women, Sarah Darcel was the first individual winner, taking the 100 fly (55.78) over freshman Elise Garcia (55.99) and senior Jenna Campbell (56.13). The sophomore Darcel, an All-American in the 400 IM, hit another top 4 finish in the 100 IM (58.51). That landed her 3rd behind Weitzeil (56.87) and Keaton Blovad (57.33). Blovad also had nice swims in the 100 back (56.70 – 2nd) and 100 free (52.18 – 4th).

Sophomore Robin Neumann was 3rd in the 100 back (56.76), 2nd in the 100 free (51.21), and 4th in the 100 IM (59.71). Freshman Ema Rajic put up a 2nd place finish in the 100 breast (1:05.42) behind only Weitzeil.

The mixed 200 medley relay saw Cal put teams in 1st through 4th place. The Bears’ G team won the event in 1:38.12, keying on a 24.57 breaststroke split from Whitley. 200 free relay results are not yet published on Meet Mobile.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Notably, freshman Cassidy Bayer was listed on Meet Mobile as ‘Cassidy (in water) Bayer.’ While she did swim the fly leg of a 200 medley relay and also the 200 free relay, this probably means she did not dive from the blocks and started from the wall instead for her individual events. She also did not race the 100 breast nor the 100 IM (everyone, assumed healthy, raced all strokes), meaning she may be continuing to deal with knee issues that have hampered her the last couple of seasons.

Bayer was 4th in the 100 fly (56.57), and added times of 59.76 in the 100 back and 54.79 in the 100 free.

Additionally, All-Americans and seniors Amy Bilquist and Katie McLaughlin, as well as freshman backstroker Alex Sumner did not race for Cal.