For more commitment articles, be sure to check out SwimSwam’s College Recruiting channel.
The Cal Golden Bears have pulled off arguably their best commitment thus far in their class of 2020 with Upper Dublin Aquatic Club’s Michael Jensen. An Olympic Trials qualifier in the 50m free, 100m free, and 100m fly, Jensen swam the third leg on the United States’ 400 free relay at the 2015 World Jr Championships. He split a 50.51 in finals as the U.S. placed 2nd overall, though he was a 49.90 in prelims.
Jensen’s a big pickup for the Golden Bears, as they graduated top sprinters Seth Stubblefield and Fabio Gimondi after last season. Overall #1 freestyler Tyler Messerschmidt is in his final season with Cal, as is sprinter Nick Dillinger. In addition, Cal will lose (among others) all-stars Jacob Pebley and Josh Prenot to graduation before Jensen gets to campus.
photo c/o Michael Jensen on Twitter (@mjensen1661)
With the range to go from the 50 to 200 free, Jensen should serve as a relay piece for Cal, and he has a very strong 100 fly and 200 IM to add to that.
Jensen’s Top Times (LCM in parentheses)
- 50 free – 20.20 (23.03)
- 100 free – 43.29 (50.28)
- 200 free – 1:35.31 (1:52.57)
- 50 back – 22.50
- 100 back – 49.07 (58.95)
- 200 back – 1:48.00
- 100 fly – 47.41 (54.70)
- 200 fly – 1:47.69 (2:04.95)
- 200 IM – 1:48.25
At the 2015 Pennsylvania AAA HS State Championships, representing Upper Dublin High School, Jensen won both the 100 and 200 free. He led off their 4th place 200 medley relay in an impressive 22.50, and anchored their 4th place 400 free relay with a 43.07.
Jensen’s pretty versatile, but his sprint free is his calling card. At the 2015 Pac 12 Championships, Jensen would’ve been on the A/B final bubble in the 100 and 200 free, and would have made B finals in the 100 and 200 fly and C finals in the 50 free and 200 IM.
Comparing Jensen to the other Cal commits in his class, Albert Gwo and Jack Xie, the Bears have some exceptional sprint talent coming in. Gwo is a 19.9 and 44.6 in the free, while Xie is a 44.9 free and 46.7 butterfly. Cal’s graduating a ton of top talent this and next year, but this incoming class of sprinters will form a core group around the likes of Andrew Seliskar, Michael Thomas, and Justin Lynch.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email to [email protected]
Might have overlooked: Jensen and Thomas did their club swimming together for years at Upper Dublin Aquatic Club.
Yes!! Go Bears! We needed another sprinter.