King of the Pool: Trenton Julian Hits 100 Fly PB, Hugo Gonzalez Wins Overall

2021 Cal Poly vs Cal King of the Pool

• September 24, 2021
• Anderson Pool, Cal Poly
• San Luis Obispo, California
• Short Course Yards (SCY)
• Results

The University of California, Berkeley, and California Polytechnic swim teams competed in the annual King and Queen of the Pool meet on Friday, September 24. During the pentathlon-style meet each competitor races all four stroke 100s and the 100 IM. Upon the completion of all five races, the man and woman with the quickest aggregate time are crowned King of the Pool and Queen of the Pool, respectively.

This year’s King and Queen of the pool were Cal seniors Hugo Gonzalez on the men’s side and Isabel Ivey on the women’s.

• Read more about the women’s meet here.

Hugo Gonzalez was the only man at the meet to finish within the top three in all five 100-meter races. He did so by winning the 100 backstroke and IM, placing second in the 100 fly and free, and placing third in the 100 breaststroke. Gonzalez won the 100 backstroke in a 47.82, which trails his PB in the event of 46.24, and won the 100 IM in a 48.72, which is an improvement upon his former best of 49.35 from the 2019 version of this meet.

Gonzalez swam a 47.99 in the 100 fly, a 44.73 in the 100 free, and a 55.89 in the 100 breaststroke. Of those three swims, the freestyle was the closest he came to his PB, which sits at a 44.56 from last season.

Trenton Julian came second to Gonzalez in the five-race total, establishing a time of 4:08.84, while Reece Whitley placed third with a 4:12.25. Julian and Whitley won the 100 butterfly and breaststroke, respectively, in times of 47.65 and 53.36.

Julian, who placed second in the 200 butterfly at the 2021 NCAA Championships, managed to improve upon his former PB of 47.88 in the 100 fly. That former best time from Julian dates back to 2016 and he hasn’t raced the event for Cal at many high-level meets. Julian’s last short course yards 100 fly on record was in January 2019, when he swam a 49.78.

Julian’s improvement in the short course version of 100 fly isn’t too surprising considering his breakthrough summer in the event. Julian delivered a trio of 51s in the long course 100 butterfly at the U.S. Olympic Trials, hitting a 51.71 in the prelims, a 51.70 in the semi-finals, and a 51.78 for fourth place in the final.

Whitley, on the other hand, was a little bit slower than his own best time in the 100 breaststroke, which sits at a 50.85 from back in 2020. Whitley, in his senior year with the Bears, had a successful last season, 100 breaststroke-wise: he won the Pac-12 title in the event with a 51.38 and went on to win bronze at the NCAA Championships with a 51.03.

The other event winner on the men’s side was Cal freshman Robin Hanson, who took the 100 freestyle in a 44.03. Hanson was the fourth-place finisher overall at the meet with an aggregate time of 4:13.48, followed by teammate Jason Louser (4:16.67) for fifth. The top finish for Cal Poly came from junior Brian Wong who finished 15th overall with a 4:23.37.