Cal at the Olympics: Abbey Weitzeil in Position for Another Relay Medal

Former Cal golfers Collin Morikawa, Byeong Hun An trying to keep up after two rounds

Abbey Weitzeil / Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports

Former Cal swimmer Abbey Weitzeil put herself in position for another relay medal, while Cal graduate Collin Morikawa and ex-Golden Bear Byeong Hun An have some ground to make up to earn a medal in men’s golf as the result of Friday’s action at the 2024 Olympic Games in France.

Several Cal-affiliated rowers will be seeking medals on Saturday.

Swimming

Abbey Weitzeil, USA: Weitzeil swam the freestyle anchor leg in the United States’ mixed 4x100 medley relay team (two men, two women) that had the best overall time in Friday’s heats.  The Americans advanced to Saturday’s final with a clocking of 3:40.98, which enabled the U.S. to finish first in its heat. The second-fastest time belonged to Australia, which placed first in the other heat but was 0.44 of a second slower than the Americans’ time. Weitzeil is a 2020 graduate of Cal who is competing in her third Olympics.  She has won five Olympic medals, all in relays, including a silver medal in the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay earlier in these Olympics. 

Lilou Ressencourt, France: Ressencourt, who is scheduled to enroll at Cal after the Olympics, swam a butterfly leg for the French mixed 4x100 medley relay team that qualified for Saturday’s final.  Her group finished fourth in its heat and had the seventh-fastest time overall of 3:43.99, which was about three seconds slower than the U.S. time.

Robin Hanson, Sweden: Hanson swam the freestyle leg of Sweden’s mixed medley relay team that finished seventh in its heat and 12th overall in a time 3:43.99. Only eight teams qualify for the final, so Sweden did not advance. Hanson recently completed his junior year at Cal.

Andi Murez, Israel: Murez is participating in her third Olympics and she was a flag-bearer for Israel in the Opening Ceremonies.  However, her mixed medley team did not advance after placing sixth in its heat and 10th overall. The Israel foursome is one of the two reserve squads, so if two teams cannot compete in the final for some reason, the Israel team would step in. Murez swam the freestyle anchor leg of the team, which finished in a time of 3:45.33, which was a little more than a second slower than the eighth-place Japan team.

Leah Plonsky, Israel: Plonsky placed eighth in her heat of the women’s 200-meter individual medley and her time of 2:17.53 was the 28th-best overall, so she did not advance. She was more than six seconds behind the eighth and last qualifier. Polonsky came to the United States from Israel at the age of 19 and recently finished her junior year at Cal.

Jaron Hatch, Philippines: Hatch finished eighth in her heat of the men’s 200-meter butterfly and was 36th overall in a time of 54.66 seconds.  He did not advance. Hatch is a Bay Area product from Morgan Hill, and he graduated from Cal in 2021.  He has Filipino heritage through his mother and holds the Philippines national record in the 100 butterfly.

Golf

Collin Morikawa, USA: Morikawa shot a 3-under par 68 in Friday’s second round at Le Golf National course in Paris, and he is at 4-under for the tournament, leaving him seven strokes off the lead, which is shared by Xander Schauffele (USA), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) and Tommy Fleetwood (Great Britain), who are tied at 11-under. Morikawa, a Cal graduate, is tied for 19th after carding fur birdies against one bogey on Friday.

Byeong Hun An, South Korea: An also shot a 3-under-par 68 on Friday and is at 2-under for the tournament, leaving him tied for 30th place, nine shots off the lead. An, who spent one year at Cal before turning pro, also had four birdies and one bogey in his second round.

Water Polo

Emma Wright and Kindred Paul, Canada: Wright scored three goals but it was not enough as Canada lost to Australia 10-7 in women’s water polo group play.  Both Wright, who played for Cal from 2017 to 2019, and Kindred, a 2018 Cal graduate, played more than 25 minutes.  Kindred attempted one shot but did not score. The Canadians have one win and two losses in their three games in pool play, but are still in good shape to qualify for the quarterfinals since the top four teams in their five-team group will advance.

Rowing

Cal grad Kara Kohler will be seeking a medal in the women’s single sculls final on Saturday, while Cal athletes are members of four of the six finalists in the men’s eight final that same day.

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