Cal Swimming: Bears Roar From Behind to Capture Fifth Straight Pac-12 Title

Cal captured four events on Saturday to win its seventh crown in eight years.

The Cal men’s swim team finished the Pac-12 championships in a familiar place. But the climb toward a fifth straight conference title began modestly.

The Bears sat in sixth place after Wednesday’s opening action in Federal Way, Wash., in part because they didn’t enter athletes in the diving portion of the competition.

On Thursday, Cal closed the schedule with consecutive victories, a win in the 50-yard freestyle by Bjorn Seeliger in a meet-record time, then a trump in the 200 free relay, where Seeliger topped his own ink-still-wet record for 50 yards with a sizzling 18.73-second clocking.

Still, the Bears were in fourth place in the team standings, 142 points behind leader Stanford.

Momentum grew on Friday when Reece Whitley and Seeliger posted victories in consecutive events, Whitley winning the 100 breast for the third consecutive year before Seeliger claimed the 100 back. Teammates Destin Lasco, Daniel Carr and Bryce Mefford helped the Bears piled up big points in the event by placing second, fourth and seventh, respectively.

Reece Whitley / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Whitley on Friday also was named the Pac-12’s Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The senior from Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, won All-America honors 14 times through his first three seasons and is a two-time Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll member.

By the end of Friday, Cal had moved to second place, its margin behind Stanford now just 63 points.

That turned out to be well within the Bears’ grasp on Saturday, when they won three individual races and closed out the meet with a conference-record performance in the 400 free relay.

The Bears totaled 853.5 points to easily sprint past Stanford with 760 and third-place Arizona State, which scored 652.

Cal has won five straight Pac-12 titles and seven of the past eight under coach Dave Durden.

Just as they dominated the 100 back, the Bears made themselves prominent in the 200 back with four top-five finishes. Lasco and Carr went 1-2 and brothers Bryce and Colby Mefford secured fourth and fifth.

Seeliger, a sophomore from Sweden, helped put Cal in front to stay when he won the 100 free, his third individual title, giving him 60 individual points for the event. Jack Alex touched third and the Bears were on their way to the title.

Cal’s Trenton Julian defended his Pac-12 title in the 200 butterfly title with Dare Rose and Gabriel Jett placing third and fourth.

Finally, the foursome of Dylan Hawk, Alexy, Hugo González and Seeliger put together the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history to win the 400 free relay, out-touching Arizona State by 0.01 seconds. Seeliger’s closing 40.91-second leg gave the Bears a Pac-12 record of 2:45.94, eclipsing the mark set by the Bears three years ago.

Fifth-year seniors Daniel Carr, Grieshop, Julian and Bryce Mefford have been a part of all five Pac-12 team titles dating back to 2018.

Cal will compete at the NCAA Championships on March 23-26 in Atlanta, a year after finishing a close second place to champion Texas.

Cover photo of Cal's Pac-12 championship team courtesy of Cal Athletics

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo