Cal Men To Battle USC, UC San Diego This Weekend

Courtesy: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – The California men’s swimming & diving team kicks off a busy weekend that will see some of the squad travel to Los Angeles to take on Pac-12 foe USC while another group of Golden Bears will travel to La Jolla for a dual against UC San Diego. Both meets on Friday will begin at 1 p.m. On Saturday, Cal and UC San Diego will compete at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, Calif., with the two teams competing in a long course meet.

FRIDAY, FEB. 2
USC | 1 PM PT | Uytengsu Aquatics Center | Los Angeles
Live Stream: USC Live Stream
Live Results: Meet Mobile

UC San Diego | 1 PM PT | Triton Pool | La Jolla
Live Stream: None
Live Results: Meet Mobile

SATURDAY, FEB. 3
UC San Diego | Noon | Jaquar Aquatic Wellness & Sports, Southwestern JC | Chula Vista
Live Stream: None
Live Results: Meet Mobile

LAST TIME IN THE POOL
Last time out, the Bears dominated Pac-12 foe Arizona only to back it up with an epic dual meet against Arizona State. Against the Sun Devils, 13 pool records were broken at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The meet ended with the Bears and Sun Devils settling for a tie with 150 points each. Cal’s contingent of divers came up big with sophomore All-American Joshua Thai sweeping the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events to earn Pac-12 Diver of the Week honors.

IN THE RANKINGS
Following a tremendous performance against the Wildcats and top-ranked Sun Devils last time out, the Bears have climbed up a spot to No. 2 in the latest CSCAA Top-25 poll. ASU remains in the top spot with 349 points followed by Cal with 337 points. Rounding out the top five is N.C. State (309 points), Florida (307), and Stanford (293).

TOP-10 TIMES
The Bears have put up some impressive times this season, including 12 top-10 times in the nation. Six of those times came last time out against ASU. In the 50-yard freestyle Bjorn Seeliger ranks sixth with a time of 18.92 followed by Jack Alexy who is eighth with a time of 18.97. In the 100 free, the duo is flipped with Alexy ranking fourth with a time of 41.40 followed by Seeliger at fifth at 41.41. Seeliger also has a top-10 time in the 100 backstroke (44.99). Gabriel Jett has cracked the top-10 in the 200 free (1:31.78) and 200 butterfly (1:41.33) while Destin Lasco has top-10 times in the 100 back (44.28), 200 back (1:38.34), and 200 IM (1:40.16). Dare Rose has top-10 times in the 100 fly (44.98) and 200 fly (1:39.76).

DIVERS PUT ON A SHOW
Last time out, the Bears’ divers put on a show at Legends Aquatic Center. Sophomore Joshua Thai earned Pac-12 Diver of the Week after winning three of the four events, including a pair of first-place finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives against top-ranked ASU. In the showdown against the Wildcats, the Bears got tremendous performances from their top four divers. Thai’s 1-meter score of 337.65 is the third-best in program history. Junior Conrad Eck took third in the 3-meter dive with a score of 312.68 which is 10^th all-time at Cal. Freshman Geoffrey Vavitsas took second in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. Jack Clark took fourth in the 1-meter dive.

AGAINST THE TROJANS
Friday marks the 82^nd meeting between the two programs. All time, USC owns a 49-32 advantage in the series. However, under head coach Dave Durden, the Bears are 15-1 against USC. Last time out, Cal defeated the Trojans 171.5-124.5 over then No. 20 USC at Spieker Aquatics Complex last season.

AGAINST THE TRITONS
Friday’s dual against UC San Diego is the fifth-ever meeting between the two squads. Cal owns a 4-0 advantage in the series. Last time out, Cal defeated the Tritons 143-116 last season.