Courtesy: Cal Athletics
BERKELEY – The second-ranked California men’s swimming & diving team returns to the pool this week as it travels south for split squad action in Los Angeles and San Diego. The Bears open Friday at No. 8 USC and UC San Diego at 2 p.m., then return for the Triton Invitational at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Friday’s matchup with the Trojans will be at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center while both meets in San Diego are at the Canyonview Aquatic Center.
There will be no video streams of the meets, but live results can be found here.
DUAL MEET STREAK
The Bears have won 18 consecutive dual meets dating back to Oct. 3, 2018, including four so far this season against then-No. 9 Virginia on Oct. 15 in Berkeley, at Utah on Oct. 22 and home vs. then-No. 20 Arizona and then-No. 6 Arizona State on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22, respectively. Cal is 81-11 in dual meets under the guidance of head coach David Durden.
LAST TIME IN THE POOL
Cal swept the Arizona schools in dominant fashion, defeating the Wildcats 173-80 before taking down the Sun Devils 176-117 on senior day at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Gabriel Jett picked up three individual wins to start the weekend against UA, beginning with the fastest time (9:01.56) by a Bear this season in the 1,000-yard freestyle, followed by an NCAA “B” cut of 46.90 in the 100 butterfly and a time of 1:44.53 in the 200 fly. Cal swept the podium spots in the 500 free, 200 free, 100 free, 50 free, 200 back and 200 fly events against Arizona. The Bears won 11 of 15 events against the Sun Devils and ASU was awarded an automatic 30 points for Cal not competing in the diving competition.
JETT ENGINE
Gabriel Jett won all five of his individual events across the two meets over the weekend. His victory in the 1000-yard freestyle came in a lifetime-best 9:01.56 and all four of his other wins were NCAA “B” cuts. Jett has already won 12 events in his college career. The Clovis, California, native opened his weekend with the fastest time (9:01.56) by a Bear this season in the 1000 free, went 46.90 in the 100 butterfly and posted a time of 1:44.53 in the 200 fly against then-No. 20 Arizona on Saturday. Jett won the 500 free against then-No. 6 Arizona State by more than nine seconds and trailed in the 200 free before the final turn, but he swam past ASU’s Grant House in the final 25 yards to take the victory in 1:34.13.
DAVID MARSH JOINS BEARS IN INTERIM ROLE
Cal has added internationally renowned coach David Marsh to its coaching staff on an interim basis, head coach David Durden announced last week. Marsh will assist Durden and volunteer assistant coach Matt Martinez through the remainder of the 2021-22 season while assistant coach Chase Kreitler is away from the program on paternity leave. Marsh will join the Golden Bears early this month.
A 2021 International Swimming Hall of Fame inductee, Marsh is the founder and director of Team Elite Aquatics, considered to be one of the top professional swimming training groups in the United States. Marsh served as the U.S. Olympic Women’s Head Coach in 2016 and was a three-time U.S. Olympic Men’s Assistant Coach in 1996, 2000 and 2012.
Marsh was the head coach at Auburn from 1990-2007, leading the Tigers to an unparalleled run of success with seven men’s NCAA team championships (1997, ’99, 2003, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07) and five women’s NCAA team championships (2002, ’03, ’04, ’06, ’07). He amassed 17 SEC titles (13 men’s, four women’s) while at Auburn. Durden was an assistant coach on Marsh’s Auburn staff from 2000-05, helping the Tiger men’s and women’s teams to six national championships during that span.
ON THE WORLD STAGE
Trenton Julian (USA), Hugo González (Spain) and Ziyad Saleem (Sudan) swam for their respective countries at the 2021 FINA Short-Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. on Dec. 16-21. Julian returned to Berkeley as a three-time medalist (two gold, one silver) in the 4×200-meter free relay (gold, American record of 6:47.00), 4x50m medley relay (gold) and the 4x100m medley relay (silver). He also was a finalist in the 200m free, taking fourth place in 1:50.01 to become the second-fastest American in event history. González swam in six different events, earning his best finish of ninth place in the 200m back (1:52.47). Saleem took 43rd and 29th in the 100 and 200 back events.
AMONG THE GREATEST
Cal was well-represented in the CSCAA’s 100th-year celebration lists of the 100 greatest men’s swimmers & divers and the 100 greatest swimming & diving coaches of the past century. Six swimmers – Nathan Adrian, Matt Biondi, Anthony Ervin, Ryan Murphy, Graham Smith and Tom Shields – were picked among the top 100 swimmers while David Durden and the late Nort Thornton were named to the list of top 100 coaches.