European Juniors Finalist Lars Antoniak Commits to Cal for 2024

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Estonian breaststroke specialist Lars Antoniak committed to Cal last month, rounding out the Bears’ 2024 recruiting class with another international talent.

Antoniak was a finalist in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2023 European Junior Championships last July, where he was ultimately disqualified after placing 7th in the semifinals (2:17.49 after 2:17.26 in prelims). A couple months later at the 2023 World Junior Championships last September, the 18-year-old narrowly missed the 200 breast final with a personal-best 2:16.74 for 9th place.

His lifetime bests in the 50 breast (29.01) and 100 breast (1:04.28) came last April at the Malmsten Swim Open and Speedo Helsinki Meet, respectively.

“Couldn’t be more excited to announce my commitment to University of California, Berkeley,” Antoniak wrote on Instagram. “I would like to thank my parents, my coach @henryyhein and my teammates for the support that I’ve received over the years. Huge thanks to @joshuahuger and Coach Dave for showing interest and welcoming me to the team! Go Bears.”

Best LCM Times (Converted to SCY)

• 50 breast – 29.01 (25.23)
• 100 breast – 1:04.28 (56.10)
• 200 breast – 2:16.74 (1:59.58)

Antoniak is about six seconds shy of the Olympic ‘B’ cut in the 200 breast and within five seconds of the 100 breast mark. His best converted times project to be outside of ACC scoring range based on February’s conference championship meet.

The Cal men won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2022 and 2023 before Arizona State dethroned them on Saturday, but they still extended their run of top-2 finishes to 14 years in a row. The 2024-25 season will be the Bears’ first in the ACC, where they’ll compete against powerhouse programs such as NC State, Stanford, and Virginia.

Antoniak joins Mewen Tomac, Freddy Klein, Edward Huang, August Vetsch, Thackston McMullan, Lucca Battaglini, Carter Lancaster, Matthew Elliott, Trey Hesser, and Yamato Okadome in Cal’s 2024 recruiting class. He’s the second-fastest breaststroker on paper behind Okadome. Tomac hails from France while Okadome is Japanese.

• Related: D-III Champion Frank Applebaum Transferring From C-M-S to Cal for 5th Year

Cal fifth year Liam Bell took almost a second off his best 100 breast time this season, winning the national title last month with an unexpected NCAA record of 49.69. If he opts to stay in Berkeley to train next season, he could be a great mentor for Antoniak and Okadome to push them in practice.

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