Courtesy: Cal Athletics
BERKELEY – California makes its 2022-23 home debut on Wednesday afternoon when the Golden Bears host Pac-12 rival Utah at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The action begins at 1:00 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on the Cal Live Stream.
The men will share the pool with the women who will also be taking on Utah on Wednesday. The meet will feature 14 events with the women leading off each event.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12
Utah at Cal | 1:00 p.m. PT | Spieker Aquatics Complex | Berkeley, Calif.
Live Stream: CalBears.com
LAST TIME IN THE POOL
The Bears opened the 2022-23 season at the annual King of the Pool hosted by Cal Poly on September 30. Three-time NCAA champion Destin Lasco was named the King of the Pool after finishing with a combined time of 4:04.23 over the five 100-yard events. Sophomore Robin Hanson was second overall with a combined time of 4:12.34. Jack Alexy won the 100 free with a time of 43.63, Dare Rose was the Bears’ top finisher in the 100 butterfly (48.30) and sophomore Jacob Soderlund was the top finisher in the 100 breaststroke (55.07).
KING ME
Lasco becomes the eighth Golden Bear to be named King of the Pool from 2010-22. Lasco had Cal’s fastest times in the 100 back (47.19) and individual medley (48.52) while finishing second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 43.63. Previous winners include three-time winner Marcin Tarczynski (2010-12), Ryan Murphy (2013), Will Hamilton (2014), Matthew Josa (2017), Andrew Seliskar (2018), Zheng Quah (2019), and Hugo Gonzalez (2021).
STARTING A NEW STREAK
Last season, the Bears saw their streak of 20 consecutive dual meet victories snapped at No. 6 Stanford on February 19. Before that Cal’s last defeat in a dual meet came on October 3, 2018. Under the guidance of head coach Dave Durdan, Cal is 83-12 in dual meets. In 2021-22 the Bears went 6-1 in dual meets with wins over No. 9 Virginia on Oct. 15, Utah on Oct. 22, No. 20 Arizona and No. 6 Arizona State on January 21 and 22 respectively, followed by road victories over No. 8 USC and UC San Diego on Feb. 4.
THEY’RE BACK
Three standout Bears – González, Whitley, and Chris Jhong – are back for another tour of duty after electing to use an NCAA waiver to compete collegiately for a fifth year. The trio has a combined 30 All-America certificates, 14 Pac-12 titles, and three individual NCAA Championships while having led Cal to the 2019 and 2021 NCAA team titles and four consecutive Pac-12 team titles dating back to 2019.
NEW FACES
The Bears added five freshmen and three transfers to its championship squad. The freshman class includes Matthew Chai, Colby Hatton, Luca Putasteri Gissendaner, Hank Rivers, and Tommy Roder. Transfers include Luke Rodarte from Cal Lutheran and a pair of Michigan transfer’s Patrick Callan and Bora Unalmis. Cal’s 2021-22 roster features 10 freshmen and a pair of transfers, graduate Will Roberts (Michigan) and junior Liam Bell (Alabama). The 10-man freshman class includes 2020 Olympian Robin Hanson, 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials semifinalist Jack Alexy and six-time IHSAA state champion Trent Frandson.
STAY POSTED
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Wait … Gonzalez is back?!?! Or is this a typo?
Cal keeps writing in their press releases that he is. When we ask the coaches, they dodge the question. We asked Hugo again yesterday, and he said he is still working with the coaches to figure out a plan and what is best.
So it seems as though maybe there are some troubles with intra-departmental communication. Either he’s coming back and the coaches want to keep it on the downlow for whatever reason and didn’t communicate that to the sports information staff, or a decision hasn’t been made yet and nobody has communicated that to the sports information staff.
This is the first time I can remember a pac-12 meet on a Wednesday. Maybe I have a short memory.