Courtesy: Cal Athletics
Cal takes to the road for the third time in four competitions this fall, traveling to Utah on Friday for a dual meet with the Utes. Racing will get underway at 11 am PT. The Golden Bears are making the trip to Salt Lake City for the first time since October 2017, with fifth-year senior Robin Neumann the lone Cal holdover from the meet. As a freshman, she took second in the 200 free and third in the 200 back, as the Bears rolled to a 186-114 win.
Cal returns to action a month later with the Minnesota Invitational Dec. 1-4, then has four consecutive duals at home – UC San Diego Dec. 18, San Jose State Jan. 17, Arizona, Jan. 21 and Arizona State Jan. 22.
LAST TIME OUT – CAL EDGED BY VIRGINIA: Cal battled defending NCAA champion under the lights before a packed house at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Oct. 15, but came up short in a competitive meet, 141-121. The Bears swept the 200 free, with Isabel Ivey (1:45.27), Ayla Spitz (1:47.26) and Robin Neumann (1:47.61) finishing 1-2-3. Cal earned two more individual wins as Spitz out-performed 2020 Olympian Emma Weyant in the 500 free with a 4:46.83 effort, and Alicia Wilson clocked 1:59.63 in the 200 IM. Cal also earned nine second-place finishes as the Bears gave a preview of bigger swims to expect this spring.
STADDEN, WEITZEIL NAMED TO U.S. SHORT-COURSE WORDS TEAM: Cal sophomore Isabelle Stadden and alum Abbey Weitzeil were recently chosen to represent Team USA at the FINA Short-Course World Championship Dec. 16-21 in Abu Dhabi. Stadden will swim the 200-meter back, while Weitzeil is slated to compete in the 50-meter free, 100-meter free and 100-meter IM.
Stadden is coming off a freshman season in which she placed in the top 5 at the NCAA Championships in both the 100-yard back (5th) and 200-yard back (3rd) and captured the Pac-12 200 back title. She later finished fifth in the 100-meter back and fourth in the 200-meter back at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.
Weitzeil, who suited up for the Golden Bears from 2017-20, captured a silver medal in the 400-meter medley relay and a bronze medal in the 400-meter free relay at the Tokyo Olympics, in addition to taking eighth place in both the 50-meter free and 100-meter free.
TERI McKEEVER RECEIVES PARAGON AWARD: Cal head coach Teri McKeever received the Paragon Award from the International Swimming Hall of Fame earlier this fall for her outstanding service and contributions towards advancing competitive swimming last weekend. Now in her 30th season leading the Golden Bears, McKeever is one of the most accomplished coaches in the sport, having guided Cal to five Pac-12 and four NCAA team titles, including 15 consecutive top-5 finishes at the national championships. She also served as head women’s U.S. Olympic coach in 2012 and has been on the Olympic staff multiple times, including this past summer in Tokyo.
NATALIE COUGHLIN EARNS BASHOF HONOR: Natalie Coughlin, a 12-time Olympic medalist, 20-time World Championships medalist and former world-record holder, was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 3. The three-time collegiate swimmer of the year for the Bears from 2001-03 is the third Cal women’s swimmer to join the BASHOF, with the others being Ann Curtis Cuneo (1983) and Mary T. Meagher (2002).
OLYMPIC BEARS: Eight Golden Bear swimmers plus head coach Teri McKeever participated in the Olympics in Tokyo – alums Abbey Weitzeil (silver, 400m medley relay; bronze, 400m free relay) and Katie McLaughlin (silver, 800 free relay) for Team USA, current team members Alicia Wilson (Great Britain) and Ema Rajic (Croatia), and alums Farida Osman (Egypt), Marina Garcia (Spain), Stephanie Au (Hong Kong) and Camille Cheng (Hong Kong). McKeever served as a U.S. assistant coach.