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College Previews: #3 Cal Looking To Challenge For Number One Spot With A Talent Filled Roster[/SIZE][/COLOR]
http://swimswam.com/cal-women/
[COLOR="#696969"]Mitch Bowmile | October 17th, 2014 [/COLOR]The Cal women have some of the top names in college swimming that makes up a fantastic roster and undoubtedly categorizes them as one of the best teams in the nation.
With a great number of swimmers on the team bringing home points at last year's NCAA Championships, the Cal team is in a great position his season, as they haven't lost much, but they've gained a whole lot.
Cindy Tran will be the biggest factor missing from the Cal team this season as she had an electrifying career that involved multiple finals swims at the NCAA Championships as well as being a crucial part of the Cal relays.
They've gained some great athletes with the likes of Cierra Runge and Noemie Thomas, so there's merit to believe that Cal could come back swinging and try to top Stanford and Georgia for the women's NCAA title.
[U]Last Season[/U]The Cal women were extremely successful last season with Teri McKeever utilizing a large majority of the athletes on her team to score points at both the Pac 12 Championships and NCAAs.
With a fantastic record last season, the Cal Golden Bears came into the 2014 Pac 12 Championships as the undisputed favorites, with the exception of Stanford.
The Cal team won the Pac 12 meet with a total of 1552.5 points to take down Stanford who finished second with 1364.
Later in the season at the NCAAs, Cal wasn't able to hold off Stanford and ended up finishing third behind them and the eventual winners, Georgia. Cal had 386 points which was extremely close to Stanford's 402.5.
Cal fell to Stanford much due to a disqualified 4x50m medley relay, with that race their point totals would have been much closer.
Overall, the Cal team saw success from swimmers like Missy Franklin, Elizabeth Pelton and Celina Li who all scored in multiple events in order to help Cal get the finish they needed.
Heading into this season, they might be in an even better position to demonstrate their dominant roster to the rest of the NCAA.
[U]2014-2015 Freshman Class[/U]The Golden Bears don't have a huge freshman class for the 2014-2015 season, drafting only five swimmers. Quality over quantity is the definition of how Cal recruited however, picking up big names such as freestyle star Cierra Runge and Canadian butterfly star Noemie Thomas.
Noemie Thomas fits perfectly in the Cal roster with Cindy Tran -who previously swam the fly splits on all the relays and placed sixth in the 100 fly at NCAA's last year- gone. Coming from Canada, the one weakness that Thomas has is that she doesn't have as much experience as her American counterparts swimming yards.
In Canada, short course meets are held in 25m pools, where Thomas has absolutely excelled. Her short course 100m fly sits at 56.64; when converted that time is a 51.02 in yards. A 51.02 would have placed second at the NCAA Championships last year behind Felicia Lee of Stanford who will not be coming back this year meaning that Thomas could possibly have a shot at the title.
Her long course 50m fly is a 26.23 which ranked her at 16th in the world for the 2013-2014 season. Converted to short course yards, that's a 23.00. The fastest split in the 200 medley relay at NCAA's last season was a 22.71 by Ellese Zalewski. Thomas is set up to possibly have the fastest split. If she can convert her long course success to yards well a 23.00 with a flat-start will render an amazing fly leg on the 200 medley relay.
The Cal 200 medley relay was disqualified last year, however they have one of the most stacked teams in the NCAA. With Thomas now on the team, they'll have amazing back, fly, and freestyle legs. Their one weakness would be the breaststroke leg with Celina Li, however Li is coming back after finishing her freshman season with a lot more experience than ever before which should help her cause.
Thomas will be very successful in the 100 fly, as well as the relays, and will come as a dual threat with potential to score in the 200 fly. Her 200 fly conversion time is a 1:55.41 which would have gotten her seventh at last year's NCAA's. She spoke to SwimSwam about putting some more focus on her 200 fly before moving to California, however the sprints are her specialties.
While Thomas takes control of the sprint fly events, Cierra Runge will step in to make her move in the middle-distance and distance freestyles. Runge is coming off an amazing season where she made her first senior national team, heading to Pan Pacs. Runge swam a 4:04.67 in the 400m free at nationals to finish second behind Katie Ledecky and earn herself a spot on the roster.
Runge also made the team in the 800m freestyle, and ended up earning a silver medal at Pan Pacs, again behind Ledecky, to earn her first major international medal on a senior level. Runge also got to work with Cal coach Teri McKeever while she was there.
Runge holds extremely fast times in meters, however she hasn't produced anything as impressive in yards, but there's no doubt that McKeever has a plan for her. So far, she set two personal best in yards swims this season with a 4:43.36 in the 500 free and a 16:40.89 in the 1650 free at the All-Florida Invite. Those times wouldn't have scored points at last year's NCAA Championships, however come NCAAs she'll most likely be able to throw something down that will be competitive.
No Cal swimmer scored in the 1650 at last year's NCAAs as the distance-freestyle portion of the program was lacking in athletes. With Runge, it only adds more depth to the team and gives Cal more potential to score in every single individual event.
Possibly shadowed by the two stars is freshman Maija Roses. Roses is a breaststroker, and might give Celina Li a run for her money on the breaststroke legs of the relays. Her personal best in the 100 yard breaststroke is 1:01.48. Li split a 1:01.20 on the 4100 medley relay last season, so Roses is definitely in contention for taking over as the top breaststroker and grabbing that relay spot.
Last season, Cal was unable to score in only four individual events, two of which happened to be the breaststrokes. Roses could be the solution to that problem if she can drop some time this season. She'll need to be around the one-minute mark in the 100, and under around 2:09 in the 200 if she wants a chance at making the consolation final. Those times are very achievable, and if she's able to make those time drops it will only make the Cal relays that much more successful.
One of the Cal relays that was very successful last season was the 4100 freestyle relay. The team finished third at NCAAs, the slowest split being a 48.72 leadoff from Kaylin Bing. This season, Cal recruited Jasmine Mau who swims a 48.67 100 freestyle.
Bing still has the edge on Mau. In the individual 100 freestyle she was a 48.56 in prelims last season. The potential for Mau to get a relay spot however will be fuel for her to improve, and will create a great freestyle training environment.
[U]Returning Swimmers[/U][COLOR="#696969"]
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What To Expect[/U]
The depth of the Cal team is almost unmatched by any other in the NCAA. Out of all the returning swimmers, they scored in every single individual event other than the two breaststrokes, the 200 fly, and the 1650 at last year's NCAAs. Now with freshman swimmers who have the potential to score in those events the roster seems almost unstoppable.
By having one or more athletes scoring in every event, as well as improved relays, it seems as though Cal will pass Stanford and come a lot closer to Georgia, who's won for the last two seasons after coming second to Cal back in 2012. Cal is clearly looking to regain that title, and it's looking as though they have the swimmers and potential to do so.
Cal should repeat as the Pac 12 champions and their relays are looking to be in great shape. With the addition of Noemie Thomas and Maija Roses, the potential to swim faster medley relays is greater than ever. The 400 freestyle relay should remain in a similar position, although the 200 free relay might fall slightly without Cindy Tran. They should be able to pick up sturdy points in all their relays which will be a huge plus for them as they lost points drastically last year on the DQ'ed 200 medley relay.
With the great depth on the Cal team which includes seven athletes who've competed in international swimming competition, two of which are freshman, they've assembled one of the greatest teams in college swimming and will be a driving force in the NCAA for years to come.
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Quick comment upon browsing thru the above article. Much as I approve of the author's optimistic view of the Bears' strengths & depth, there are a number of glaring inaccuracies facts-wise (i.e. Sophia mentioned as a returning member of the team) and also analysis-wise (imo), with scant mention of some important contributing swimmers (even if just potentially). Also no reference to the very strong freshman class from the farm who will make their mark in NCAAs and be a dangerous threat (if they can perform to their form on paper - hopefully not lol)... I'd venture that this year, furds & dawgs will be the co-favorites, but we still have a decent chance if our team can rediscover their confidence, and believe in their ability to win it all...
:gobears:
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