Cal Pulls in 2 More 5th Years: NCAA Qualifiers Geringer (Ohio State) and McDonald (Princeton)

University of California, Berkeley head coach Dave Durden has added two more stellar NCAA veterans to his women’s swimming and diving roster for 2024-25: fifth-year transfers Maya Geringer of Ohio State and Margaux McDonald of Princeton.

Maya Geringer

“Thank you @ohiostswimdive . I am beyond grateful to the many teammates and staff whose unconditional support have made the last four years possible. I feel abundantly blessed for the experiences I’ve had at Ohio State, and I am excited to represent the University one last time this summer. With that being said, I’m immensely grateful and excited to share that I will be using my fifth year of eligibility at Cal. Thank you to my family for their unwavering encouragement, and thank you to the Cal coaches for this incredible opportunity to step into a new chapter for my final year as a swimmer!”

Geringer hails from Dublin, Ohio. In her four seasons at Ohio State, she qualified for NCAAs every year and was a top-16 finisher in the 1650 free in 2021 (14th), 2022 (9th), 2023 (14th), and 2024 (12th). She contributed to the Buckeyes’ B1G Championships consecutive titles in 2021-2023 and runner-up finish (by 0.5 point) in 2024, scoring in the mile (4x), the 500 free (3x), and the 200 free (2x).

Best SCY times:

• 1650 free – 15:56.28
• 1000 free – 9:36.55
• 500 free – 4:39.55
• 200 free – 1:47.61

Margaux McDonald

“Incredibly grateful for the past 4 years with @princetonwsd !! Thank you to all my coaches and teammates who have made this experience so special. I’m excited to share that I will be using my 5th year of eligibility to compete for @calwswim !!! Go bears 🐻💙”

McDonald, one of the captains of the 2023-24 Princeton women’s team, will be returning home to the Golden State next fall. She grew up in Orinda, about 10 miles east of Berkeley. After the Ivy League canceled her first season in 2020-21, McDonald made second team All-Ivy in 2022, then first team in 2023 and 2024. After winning the 100 breast and 200 medley relay and coming in 2nd in the 200 IM, 200 back, and 400 medley relay at 2024 Ivies, she earned an invite to the 2024 NCAA Women’s Championships, where she competed in the 200 IM and 100/200 breast.

Best SCY times:

• 200 IM – 1:56.96
• 200 back – 1:54.58
• 100 back – 53.73
• 100 breast – 1:00.20
• 200 breast – 2:11.38

Geringer and McDonald will join fellow transfer Lilou Ressencourt and first-years Adriana Smith, Finley Anderson, Charlotte Burnham, Jordan Ash, Maggie Petty, Mary-Ambre Moluh, and Mia West on the Cal women’s roster next fall.