Cal coach David Durden, 16 Bears Swimmers Headed to Olympics

Swimmers affiliated with Cal will represent eight countries in Paris

Cal swimmers Ryan Murphy (left) and Dare Rose / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Sixteen swimmers and one coach affiliated with Cal swimming have earned berths in the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Cal head coach David Durden on Sunday was named an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic swimming squad. He had been the United State head coach for the 2020 Olympics and an assistant coach in 2016.

Swimming competition at the Olympics begins on July 27, and 16 current and former Golden Bears representing eight different countries will participate in the swimming competition in Paris.

Six of those swimmers will represent the United States, and those six are Ryan Murphy, Jack Alexy, Hunter Armstrong (Cal post-grad training group), Keaton Jones, Brooks Curry (Cal post-grad training group) and Abbey Weitzeil. 

The other 10 are from various countries and include the following: Lucas Henveaux (Belgium), Hugo Gonzalez (Spain), Bjorn Seeliger (Sweden), Ziyad Saleem (South Sudan), Jeremy Bagshaw (Canada), Jarod Hatch (Philippines), Farida Osman (Egypt), Leah Polonsky (Israel), Mary-Ambre Moluh (France) and (France).

High hopes for Olympic medals rest with Murphy, who qualified for the 100 and 200-meter backstroke events, won Olympic gold medals in both events in the 2016 Olympics and won silver and bronze medals in those events at the 2020 Olympics.