Cal Men's Swimming: Golden Bears Win 2nd Straight NCAA Title - 8th Crown Overall
Updated
The Cal men’s swim team won its second consecutive NCAA championship and its sixth under coach David Durden since 2011, decisively outdistancing Pac-12 rival Arizona State at Minneapolis on Saturday.
The Bears, who took the lead in the team race on Thursday, then scored 107 points in 200-yard backstroke, 100 freestyle and 200 butterfly on the final day to separate themselves. They finished second in the meet’s final event, the 400 free relay, and wound up with 482 points — 52 more than runner-up ASU.
“I thought we had that last relay, too,” joked Durden, sounding a bit greedy.
The Bears now have eight NCAA men’s swimming team titles: 1979, 1980, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Remarkably, they have finished among the top two teams in the past 12 NCAA meets — the event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic — earning six titles and six runner-up finishes since 2011.
Graduate student Reece Whitley, who returned for a fifth season, said, “This is exactly why I came back, to be here with these guys. Just an amazing squad of guys. This one definitely means the most."
Whitley saved special praise for Durden, who was forced to also take on overseeing the women's program this year while the university investigated complaints of abuse against coach Teri McKeever, who ultimately was fired.
"There were a lot of challenges this year — Durden’s working double-time, which we are very conscious of," Whitley said. "So we had to be really independent this year, lock in and take some of the weight off his back.
"We had to adjust and trust one another. This is what happens when you have great coaches and kids that love each other.”
Durden said his swimmers made it work.
“Our aquatics program has had challenges these last 6-7-8 months. We take that head on," Durden said. "I’m so appreciative of this group and handling themselves and understanding this is not only about this year but it’s about the legacy of Cal aquatics. They get that they understand that and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it.”
Destin Lasco and Hugo Gonzalez gave the Bears a huge boost by going 1-2 in the 200 backstroke to get things rolling on Day 4. Lasco defended his national title, swimming 1:35.87 to chip nearly a full second off his prelim time and flirt with the NCAA and American records of 1:35.73, set seven years ago by Golden Bears legend Ryan Murphy.
Gonzalez touched second in 1:36.72. Colby Mefford and Sebastian Somerset placed 12th and 16th, respectively, helping the Bears compiled 43 points in the event.
Jack Alexy and Björn Seliger followed that by placing 2-3 in the 100 freestyle with respective times of 40.92 and 40.93. Their 33 points meant Cal scored 76 points in a span of two events, stretching their lead over Arizona State to 400-358 at that point.
Jason Louser provided the Bears 13 points with a sixth-place finish in the 200 breast (1:50.90).
Gabriel Jett and Dare Rose added 31 points in the 200 butterfly by taking third (1:39.40) and fourth (1:39.89), respectively.
Earlier, Lucas Henveaux earned the Bears nine points by placing ninth in the 1,650 freestyle to open Saturday’s competition. Freshman Joshua Thai secured three points with a 14th-place finish in platform diving with a score of 337.55 points -- the first Cal athlete to score in the event since 2008.
Here’s what led to Saturday’s final races:
Destin Lasco
Photo by Jack Spitser
FRIDAY: Cal retained its lead in the team standings over ASU on Day 3 as Hugo Gonzalez and Jason Louser placed second and fifth, respectively, in the 400 IM to open the competition. Gonzalez shaved 1.20 seconds off his best with a mark of 3:34.66.
Gabriel Jett nabbed second place in the 200 free with a time of 1:30.74 that was second-fastest in program history. He improved from an 18th-place finish a year ago.
Liam Bell (50.88) and Reece Whitley (51.04) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 100 breast. Destin Lasco placed third in the 100 back with a time of 43.94.
The evening ended with Cal placing fifth in the 400 medley relay, The foursome of Lasco (44.07), Whitley (51.37), Jett (44.49), and Seeliger (40.45) combined to swim 3:30.38, taking 1.42 seconds off their season-best mark and missing the year-old school record by just .02 seconds.
THURSDAY: The Bears moved into first place in the team standings on Day 2 with Lasco finishing second in 200 individual medley with a time of 1:38.10 that eclipsed the previous American record. Gonzalez finished third in 1::39.00.
Three Cal swimmers earned All-America honors in the 50 free, with Björn Seeliger placing third in 18.67, Jack Alexy was sixth in 18.87 and Liam Bell took fifth in the consolation final at 18.96.
Cal also set a program record of 1:13.32 to finish second in the 200 free relay with Seeliger splitting 18.59 to open the race. Alexy went 18.12 on the second leg, Bell clocked 18.59 before Lasco closed things out with an 18.52 time on the final 50-yard leg.
Gabriel Jett finished sixth in the 500 free with a time of 4:12.59.
WEDNESDAY: Cal kicked off the NCAAs by setting program records in the 200 medley relay and 800 free relay. The 200 medley relay was one of the fastest in NCAA history, with four of the five all-time top times. The Bears wound up fourth with the foursome of Seeliger, Bell, Dare Rose, and Alexy combining to swim 1:21.69.
In the 800 free relay, Cal took third place with the yer-old school-record time of 6:06.41. Jett opener with a split of 1:31.35, Lucas Henveaux swam 1:31.90, Patrick Callan clocked 1:33.63 and Lasco anchored with a quick 1:29.53, the third-fastest time put in by any swimmer in the event.
Cover photo of Hugo Gonzalez by Mark Spitser
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo