------


[COLOR="#0099cc"][SIZE=5]Cal women's swim boosts standing at Georgia Fall Invitational[/SIZE][/COLOR]





http://www.dailycal.org/2016/12/06/cal-womens-swim-boosts-standing-georgia-fall-invitational/


------
[COLOR="#006699"]
Er, reckon the author's a mite optimistic/generous here in stating that [COLOR="#000000"]"the Cal women's swim and dive team can lay claim to being the best in the country"[/COLOR] (I'd rather wait until NCAAs to hopefully declare this lol ... anyway he seems to have neglected a pesky swim juggernaut lurking down there on the Farm :p).

But hey, I have no reservations OTOH when it comes to praising our under-appreciated women's team any time, any day!
[/COLOR]

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842773916 said:

---

------


[COLOR="#336699"][SIZE=5]7 Final Thoughts on Invite Weekend in NCAA Swimming[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[SIZE=3][COLOR="#336699"]2. Abbey Weitzeil is a breaststroker?[/COLOR][/SIZE]

Yes, this is the same Abbey Weitzeil that holds the American records in both the 50 and 100-yard free and swam in the Olympic final in the 100 free this summer in Rio. A sprint freestylerand a darn good one, at that.

But Saturday night, when Cal head coach Teri McKeever sent up her squads for the 200 medley relay, there was Weitzeil with the "A" squad, and she was not slated to anchor. Weitzeil split 27.07 on the breaststroke leg, the third-best split in the field and much quicker than the 27.95 that Marina Garcia split on Cal's second place 200 medley relay at last year's NCAA championships.

Weitzeil was not as impressive in the 100 breast later on in the session, finishing seventh in 1:00.98 (Garcia, for comparison, finished fourth in 1:00.55), but she does not have an obvious alternative as a third event. She swam on Cal's 800 free relay to finish off the session but faded badly on the last 50, so the 100 breast could end up being her third event by the end of the season.

Regardless, Weitzeil's 50 breast skills make her a good candidate to continue in the role of 200 medley relay anchor. With Noemie Thomas swimming well in the butterfly eventsshe posted a nation-leading 50.67 in the 100 fly Saturday eveningthat leaves Farida Osman to swim the freestyle leg. Plug in Amy Bilquist or Kathleen Baker on back, and that might be a national championship relay.

Seems like an odd statement about Abbey's lack of a third event. She's been between 1:43 and 1:45 in the 200 Free (ie an NCAA scorer) over the last three seasons, but she's just recently been below 1:04 in the the 100 Breast. Definitely a good option on the breast leg of the 200 Medley (and maybe the 400 Medley too in 2018), but 200 Free (and an 800 Free leg too) now unless she miraculously drops another second in the 100 Breast this season.

BearDevil;842774451 said:

---

Seems like an odd statement about Abbey's lack of a third event. She's been between 1:43 and 1:45 in the 200 Free (ie an NCAA scorer) over the last three seasons, but she's just recently been below 1:04 in the the 100 Breast. Definitely a good option on the breast leg of the 200 Medley (and maybe the 400 Medley too in 2018), but 200 Free (and an 800 Free leg too) now unless she miraculously drops another second in the 100 Breast this season.

---

[COLOR="#006699"]Oh couldn't agree with you more there! Don't think there's been much of a question (at least amongst our lot here lol) that Abbey's individuals @ NCAAs would likely comprise of the [U]50 Free[/U] / [U]200 Free[/U] / [U]100 Free[/U], contrary to that Swimming World writer's opinion

Reckon we really need Abbey to help with the scoring in the [U]200 Free[/U] as that could turn out to be one of the weaker events for Bears this year :bawl:

Amy & Kathleen will have their hands full taking on the [U]100 Back[/U] that day (won't be easy against some of the top notch competition, but :bear: def in with a chance of a 1-2 sweep in that event, for major points!), with Katie still on the road to a full recovery and therefore not necessarily guaranteed to qualify for the A final in the [U]200 Free[/U] this year (guess the [U]100 Fly[/U] would normally be a strong event for McL, but her free seems to be getting back on track swifter than her fly, I think).

As mentioned by BD, Abbey does have some chops in the [U]200 Free[/U], having been in the mid to low 1:44 range a few times, and a [U]1:43.25[/U] PB to her name from March 2016. If Abbey can deliver a swim clocked in the 1:43s at the big dance, solid chance there of double digit points (i.e. A final). Whereas would probably require at least very low 59s, possibly even getting down to the upper 58 sec area, to achieve comparable scoring in the [U]100 Breast[/U] - dropping 3 sec from her prev PB of 1:03.81 to 1:00.86 is a really, really impressive feat, but asking Weitzeil to take off almost another 3 sec in what's an off event for her isn't going to happen...at least not this season lol

As for Abbey presenting Teri with a viable breast option in the [U]200 Medley relay[/U] - yes, I can certainly buy into that, esp if her .85 sec advantage over Marina will hold true in March. That time difference is really quite massive for a 50 distance, and would have much more impact than slotting Abbey in the anchor free position as her [U]50 Free[/U] AR is "only" 0.2 sec speedier than Farida's PB there.

Not sure TBH how it'll all play out in 2018, after Marina & Farida graduates... Guess Amy can always take over the free anchor with Thleen responsible for leadoff duty on the back - if it would make the most sense to put/keep Abbey on the breast leg of the [U]200 Medley relay[/U], that is...

btw don't think using Abbey as the breast leg in the [U]400 Medley relay[/U] next year would confer any advantage over having her on the anchor, assuming that she will be on this relay. Abbey's currently a whopping 1.73 sec quicker than the next fastest [U]100 Free[/U] swimmer on the team in 2018 (Amy)! Compare that with the much smaller margin of 0.16 sec Abbey has over Keaton, and 0.59 sec over Maija when it comes to the [U]100 Breast[/U] distance. If anything, lil Bean may be pressed into breast service here unless Keaton or the incoming c/o 2017 breaststrokers make massive strides in this area, seeing that Baker's PB is almost a sec & a half better than Abbey's!

Then there's the question of whether Abbey would be more useful scoring-wise taking on the 3 individuals + 4 relays route, or perhaps have her tackle all 5 relays + 2 individuals... Or am I sprouting a bit of nonsense here having not thought things through properly, with it getting pretty late and all here??!

Going back to the [U]800 Free relay[/U], actually was thinking that the Dream Team aren't exactly chopped liver when they are on their game with regards to their [U]200 Free[/U] times:
[INDENT]Katie's PB = [U]1:43.01[/U] (been in the mid 1:44s on 3 occasions too)
Abbey's PB = [U]1:43.25[/U] PB
Thleen 's PB = [U]1:43.61[/U] (went 1:43.04 with a rolling start @ 2016 Pac-12s)
Amy had also busted out a 1:42.89 anchoring the [U]800 Free relay[/U] @ 2016 NCAAs[/INDENT]

Not enough perhaps to topple the super furdette quartet of Ledecky, Manuel, Eastin, Neal/Drabot for supremacy in this relay, but certainly quite capable of withstanding strong challenges from 'SC, Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Michigan, A&M and the likes come March.

------

Couple of list updates after the Georgia Fall Invite:
[INDENT]
[/COLOR]
[SIZE=3]2016-17 California Season-Best List (5 Dec 2016): [/SIZE] http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/calberk.sidearmsports.com/documents/2016/12/5/16_17WSD_best_times_list_12_5_16.pdf


[SIZE=3]California All-Time Top 10 List (5 Dec 2016): [/SIZE] http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/calberk.sidearmsports.com/documents/2016/12/5/12_05_16_all_time_top_10_list.pdf
[/INDENT]

------

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842774796 said:

---

[COLOR="#006699"]
As for Abbey presenting Teri with a viable breast option in the [U]200 Medley relay[/U] - yes, I can certainly buy into that, esp if her .85 sec advantage over Marina will hold true in March. That time difference is really quite massive for a 50 distance, and would have much more impact than slotting Abbey in the anchor free position as her [U]50 Free[/U] AR is "only" 0.2 sec speedier than Farida's PB there.

Not sure TBH how it'll all play out in 2018, after Marina & Farida graduates... Guess Amy can always take over the free anchor with Thleen responsible for leadoff duty on the back - if it would make the most sense to put/keep Abbey on the breast leg of the [U]200 Medley relay[/U], that is...

btw don't think using Abbey as the breast leg in the [U]400 Medley relay[/U] next year would confer any advantage over having her on the anchor, assuming that she will be on this relay. Abbey's currently a whopping 1.73 sec quicker than the next fastest [U]100 Free[/U] swimmer on the team in 2018 (Amy)! Compare that with the much smaller margin of 0.16 sec Abbey has over Keaton, and 0.59 sec over Maija when it comes to the [U]100 Breast[/U] distance. If anything, lil Bean may be pressed into breast service here unless Keaton or the incoming c/o 2017 breaststrokers make massive strides in this area, seeing that Baker's PB is almost a sec & a half better than Abbey's!

Then there's the question of whether Abbey would be more useful scoring-wise taking on the 3 individuals + 4 relays route, or perhaps have her tackle all 5 relays + 2 individuals... Or am I sprouting a bit of nonsense here having not thought things through properly, with it getting pretty late and all here??!

Going back to the [U]800 Free relay[/U], actually was thinking that the Dream Team aren't exactly chopped liver when they are on their game with regards to their [U]200 Free[/U] times:
[INDENT]Katie's PB = [U]1:43.01[/U] (been in the mid 1:44s on 3 occasions too)
Abbey's PB = [U]1:43.25[/U] PB
Thleen 's PB = [U]1:43.61[/U] (went 1:43.04 with a rolling start @ 2016 Pac-12s)
Amy had also busted out a 1:42.89 anchoring the [U]800 Free relay[/U] @ 2016 NCAAs[/INDENT]
------

---

The Marina/Abbey medley combo works for now. If Ali or Dannie suddenly become sub-59 breaststrokers, it's all good. Until someone consistently delivers in college, don't see a lot of upside to chasing long ago ghost swims. Without a mystery breast ace transfer or late recruit, open up the 2018 medley breast competition to Abbey, Ali, Maija, Dannie, Keaton, and KB.

Not there on the individual 200 Free side, but surprising potential 800 relay depth (KB, McL, Amy, Abbey, KV, Keaton), so theoretically could move Abbey out of the 800 Relay if Teri wants to keep her in 4 relays/3 individuals. Depends on where Abbey, KV, and Keaton are in the 200 at PACs (individual, 800 relay, or time trial). Robin will help on the 800 Free in 2018.

BearDevil;842774813 said:

---

The Marina/Abbey medley combo works for now. If Ali or Dannie suddenly become sub-59 breaststrokers, it's all good. Until someone consistently delivers in college, don't see a lot of upside to chasing long ago ghost swims. Without a mystery breast ace transfer or late recruit, open up the 2018 medley breast competition to Abbey, Ali, Maija, Dannie, Keaton, and KB.

Not there on the individual 200 Free side, but surprising potential 800 relay depth (KB, McL, Amy, Abbey, KV, Keaton), so theoretically could move Abbey out of the 800 Relay if Teri wants to keep her in 4 relays/3 individuals. Depends on where Abbey, KV, and Keaton are in the 200 at PACs (individual, 800 relay, or time trial). Robin will help on the 800 Free in 2018.

---

Speaking of Robin, no bueno of the 400 relay at the short course championships. She had the worst time for her team in the prelims and didn't swim the finals. Looks like Penny screwed up too, and swam out of order for Canada. They would have been second, but were DQed. Why the coaches had her swimming third instead of anchor, probably confused her?! Taylor Ruck was big time in the 200 Free. She finished third behind two all time greats, Hosszu and Pelligrini. She is easily the top rated recruit in the class of 2018. And just as a tease to BearDevil, Finland's Jenna Laukkanen finished fourth in the 50 Breast. Oh what could have been . Hahaha!

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842775002 said:

---

------


[COLOR="#000080"][SIZE=5]CAL MEN JUMP FROM #6 TO #1 IN LATEST CSCAA POLL[/SIZE][/COLOR]





https://swimswam.com/cal-men-jump-6-1-latest-cscaa-poll/


------


[COLOR="#336699"][SIZE=5]Cal Men Jump to Top Spot in CSCAA D1 Poll; Stanford Women Stay There[/SIZE][/COLOR]





http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/cal-men-jump-to-top-spot-in-cscaa-d1-poll-stanford-women-stay-there/


------

---

For the women, Greg Meehan's Stanford Cardinal maintained its stranglehold on the top spot. Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel and Ella Eastin all posted times that rank first nationally at Ohio State. Cal and Georgia actually tied for second, but the Bears maintain the no. 2 spot after edging Georgia in the team race at the Georgia Invite this past weekend. Virginia and Texas round out the top five.


[SIZE=3]Division I Women[/SIZE]:

[U]RANK | PREV | TEAM | POINTS[/U]
1 | 1 | Stanford | 221
2 | 10 | California | 212
2 | 2 | Georgia | 212
4 | 5 | Virginia | 190
5 | 3 | Texas | 176
6 | 4 | Michigan | 171
7 | 7 | Texas A&M | 162
8 | 8 | Southern Cal | 160
9 | 6 | NC State | 158
10 | 24 | Arizona | 153
11 | 9 | Louisville | 133
12 | 14 | Missouri | 123
13 | 12 | Indiana | 110
14 | 13 | Wisconsin | 106
14 | 11 | Auburn | 106
16 | 21 | Minnesota | 79
17 | 15 | Tennessee | 75
18 | 18 | Kentucky | 68
20 | 16 | North Carolina | 63
19 | 19 | Ohio State | 56
21 | 17 | Florida | 55
22 | 22 | UCLA | 48
23 | 20 | Duke | 26
24 | - | Florida State | 19
25 | - | Louisiana State | 11

Others receiving votes: Denver (7), Alabama (5), Notre Dame (3)

------


http://www.cscaa.org/top25/


------

------


Cal W Swim/Dive: The first Pac-12 Diver of the Month for the year has been announced ... and it's Cal's own @phoebelamay who set 2 school records in November





------


[COLOR="#336699"][SIZE=5]Ledecky, LaMay Named Pac-12 Swimmer and Diver of the Month[/SIZE][/COLOR]





ALSO NOMINATED:
[U]Swimmer of the Month[/U]: Amy Bilquist, CAL


http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/ledecky-lamay-named-pac-12-swimmer-and-diver-of-the-month/


------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]PHOEBE LAMAY NAMED PAC-12 DIVER OF THE MONTH[/SIZE][/COLOR]


http://www.calbears.com/news/2016/12/7/womens-swimming-diving-phoebe-lamay-named-pac-12-diver-of-the-month.aspx


------

------


[COLOR="#000080"][SIZE=5]STANFORD WOMEN LEAD SWIMULATOR RANKINGS[/SIZE][/COLOR]

After the mid season rest meets the Stanford women lead the Division 1 Swimulator rankings (basically scoring out as it stands now top times list (without divers), limiting individual entries to 3). California sits a close second with 403 points to Stanford's 434. Defending champions Georgia are third with 295. At this point last season Georgia was ranked first with 387 points.

Stanford is carried by their four swimmers projected to score more than 40 points (Katie Ledecky 57, Ella Eastin 55, Simone Manuel 49, and Janet Hu 48). No other team currently has more than 1 (a fact some what due to short course worlds. For example Leah Smith is at worlds and only has 28 points because she doesn't have a competitive mile time yet).

Stanford also has the highest single event score from any team with 46 in the 200 free (Simone Manuel 1st, Katie Ledecky 2nd, Katie Drabot 14th). 2nd is Kentucky in the 200 back with 42 points (Asia Seidt 4th, Danielle Galyer 7th, Bridgette Alexander 8th, and Ali Galyer 13th). 3rd is California in the 100 fly with 41 points (Noemie Thomas 1st, Farida Osman 4th, and Maddie Murphy 11th)


Top time: https://swimulator.herokuapp.com/conference?conference=Nationals&season=2017&taper=Top+Time&date=Whole+Season&gender=Women&division=D1

Average time: https://swimulator.herokuapp.com/conference?conference=Nationals&season=2017&taper=Average+Time&date=Whole+Season&gender=Women&division=D1


[U]TEAM - SIMULATED SCORE TOP TIME - SIMULATED SCORE AVERAGE TIME[/U]
1 - Stanford - 434 - 477
2 - California - 403 - 337
3 - Georgia - 295 - 150
4 - Texas - 280 - 317
5 - Virginia - 253 - 279
6 - Southern Cali - 215 - 221
7 - Arizona - 206 - 179
8 - Louisville - 195 - 105
9 - Michigan - 194 - 193
10 - Texas A&M - 172 - 162


[INDENT]https://swimswam.com/stanford-women-lead-swimulator-rankings/[/INDENT]


------

That simulation is a lot more credible than some of the earlier ones that had LSJU above 600 points with a 200 point margin. Furdettes will add points in diving, but while underdogs, Bears are still in the hunt.

The 2015 Bears scored 513 points and won easily over Georgia (who would have won any other year). Bears need one or two more swim scorers along with a scoring diver, but Teri's built a very good team in spite of a few unmet needs.

------


[COLOR="#000080"][SIZE=5]SCORING THE NCAA WOMEN'S TEAMS BASED ON MIDSEASON RANKINGS[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="#006699"](article photo omitted here due to the wanton & excessive application of a certain colour shamelessly promoting a school that shall not be named here lol)[/COLOR]


[SIZE=3]NCAA WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES BASED ON MIDSEASON RANKINGS[/SIZE]

[U]PLACE | TEAM | SCORE[/U]
1 | [COLOR="#B22222"]Stanford[/COLOR] | 418
2 | [COLOR="#DAA520"]Cal[/COLOR] | 400
3 | Georgia | 298
4 | Texas | 281.5
5 | Virginia | 252
6 | NC State | 222
7 | Arizona | 208
8 | USC | 207
9 | Texas A&M | 181
10 | Michigan | 174
11 | Louisville | 169
12 | Kentucky | 98
13 | Missouri | 95
14 | Wisconsin | 85
15 | Minnesota | 84
16 | Florida State | 77
17 | Ohio State | 77
18 | Indiana | 59
18 | UNC | 57
20 | UCLA | 31
21 | Denver | 24
22 | Cincinnati | 23
23 | Alabama | 16
24 | Boise State | 15
25 | Iowa | 12
26 | Auburn | 11
27 | Duke | 10
28 | Tennessee | 9
28 | Northwestern | 9
30 | Pitt | 8
31 | Akron | 5
32 | Buffalo | 3
33 | Utah | 2
33 | FGCU | 2
33 | Florida International | 2
36 | Arkansas | 1


https://swimswam.com/scoring-ncaa-womens-teams-based-midseason-rankings/


------

------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS[/SIZE][/COLOR]


Sophomore diver Phoebe LaMay has set two school records this season.


http://www.calbears.com/news/2016/12/14/womens-swimming-diving-to-the-top-of-the-charts.aspx


------


USA Diving: @phoebelamay getting some serious height during women's 3m prelims at #WinterNats16! at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion




------

------


calwswimanddive: Teri McKeever and our Golden Bears hosting the 2nd annual Winter Swim Clinic this weekend! A great opportunity for young athletes in the sport to learn and spend time with our great young women at our new Legends Aquatic Center! #FutureGoldenBears #WinterSwimClinic #FunnestSport #GoBears��





https://instagr.am/p/BOJBRbthqzw


------


calwswimanddive: That's a wrap folks! Our 2nd Annual Winter Clinic has come to a close. We all shared some great memories and met some very motivated and driven young swimmers. We hope everyone had as much fun as we did this weekend! Go Bears!!!


[INDENT][U]Back[/U]: [COLOR="#DAA520"]KV, Katie, Madi, Courtney, Keaton, Maddie, Celina, Anina, Amy, Alexa[/COLOR]
[U]Front[/U]: [COLOR="#DAA520"]Marina, Noemie, Aislinn, Jenna, Chenoa, Kathleen, Jaz, Farida, Abbey[/COLOR]
[U]MIA[/U]: [COLOR="#808080"]Val, Maija[/COLOR][/INDENT]




https://instagr.am/p/BOLZQVIBlcV


------

------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]BEARS CLOSE OUT YEAR AGAINST SPARTANS[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=1]Cal will host San Jose State at 12 noon Wednesday at Spieker Aquatics Complex.[/SIZE]


Cal closes out the 2016 calendar year at home vs. San Jose State Wednesday at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The event gets underway at noon and admission is free.

Now, the Bears are returning to action following a week of final exams that ended this past Friday. Cal is 2-1 in dual competition this season and begins its Pac-12 slate after the New Year at Arizona and Arizona State Jan. 20-21. The Bears then host three straight in Berkeley, with USC visiting Jan. 27, UCLA on Jan. 28 and Stanford on Feb. 11.


http://www.calbears.com/news/2016/12/19/womens-swimming-diving-bears-close-out-year-against-spartans.aspx


------


[COLOR="#006699"]Hope someone on the board who's still locally based will have the time & interest to check out this dual meet in the middle of the week, support the team, and kindly report back

Not expecting any impressive times as Teri & Ian's squad would have already started their intensive Xmas training, i.e. they'll be racing unrested, in practice suits and a relatively slow outdoors pool. Not the most competitive or crucial of meets either (no disrespect to the SJSU Spartans who have an outstanding 1m springboard diver in Cari Reiswig), so I'd expect to see quite a bit of experimentation in the relay lineups along with a bunch of off-event swims.

But would be good to get some solid racing practice in here as the Bears ramp up the final phase of their yardage-focussed training regimen, before transitioning to fine-tuning the racing aspects at their winter training trip in Hawaii (and going forward from there).
[/COLOR]

------


[SIZE=4]LIVE RESULTS[/SIZE]: http://collegeswimming.us/results/79147/


------

[COLOR="#006699"]
Live tweets from Cal W Swim/Dive:
[/COLOR]

------


Just about ready for @CalWSwim vs. @sjsuathletics - first race at 12 noon sharp at Spieker. Follow along live here: http://calbea.rs/2i1OP85




------


Bears go 1-2 in the opening 200 medley relay, with Vredeveld, Garcia, McLaughlin and Bilquist leading the way in 1:42.42.

We've got a 100 IM on the meet docket, and @AbbeyWeitzeil comes through in first at 55.94.

Freshmen Anina Lund (1:53.93) and Maddie Murphy (1:53.99) lead a 1-2 Cal finish in the 200 free.

.@FaridaOsman gives the 100 back a shot and comes through in second in 56.87. Aislin Light 3rd in 57.45.

.@KathleenBaker2 claims the 100 breast in 1:03.22, followed by @MarinaG94 in 1:05.01. Bears lead the meet, 71-22.

Katie McLaughlin, Courtney Mykkanen and Maddie Murphy place 1-2-3 in the 200 fly.

.@amybilquist sprints to the front of the 50 free, winning in 22.88.

.@celinatli takes the 100 free in 51.68, with Courtney Mykkanen third in 52.63.

.@amybilquist goes wire to wire to win the 200 back in 1:59.67.

.@celinatli with a comfortable victory in the 200 breast (2:18.91). Score is now 136 for the Bears, 66 for the Spartans.

.@kvredeveld1 goes the distance in the 500 free, winning in 5:01.53.

.@noemie_thomas - the national leader in the 100 fly - edges out @FaridaOsman to win the event - 53.66 to 53.74.

Cal takes the top four spots in the 200 IM, led by 2:03.89 from @KatieMcLaugh1in

The Bears sweep the 200 free relay, with the 4some of Baker, Mau, Mykkanen and Bilquist taking first in 1:34.02.

Final score from Berkeley: @CalWSwim 178, @SJSUAthletics 113. Happy Holidays everyone and see you for the Pac-12 duals in January.


------

[COLOR="#006699"]
Hmmm, Abbey's 20.92 anchor split for her C team in the [U]200 Free relay[/U] is bloody impressive for a mid-season dual! Could well be the fastest 50 Free split (from a flying start) for anyone in the NCAA thus far in the season... For reference, Abbey's American record & NCAA mark = 21.12
[/COLOR]

------

------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]NO. 2 CAL SWIMS PAST SAN JOSE STATE[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=1]The Bears closed out the calendar year with a 178-113 victory over the Spartans (cal.isiphotos.com)[/SIZE]


BERKELEY – On the first day of winter, Cal and San Jose State staged a dual meet under the warm sunshine at Spieker Aquatics Complex Wednesday afternoon, with the second-ranked Golden Bears prevailing, 178-113.

Three Cal swimmers won two events apiece, with sophomore Katie McLaughlin winning the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.83) and 200 individual medley (2:093.89); sophomore Amy Bilquist claiming the 50 free (22.88) and 200 back (1:59.67); and senior Celina Li taking the 100 free (51.68) and 200 breast (2:18.91).

The meet comes during a period of intense training for the Bears. After winning the Georgia Fall Invitational in early December, Cal won't face another opponent in head-to-head competition until the Pac-12 dual meet season almost eight weeks later.

"The goal for today was to give us the opportunity to swim some different things and have a racing experience," head coach Teri McKeever said. "When we go from the first part of December until mid-January, that's a long time. As a coach, you like a month where we can just focus on training, and to put a racing experience in there breaks it up a bit."

Instead of holding a typical 1000-yard free during the meet, the coaches inserted a 100 IM, and Cal freshman Abbey Weitzeil came through in 55.94, edging out Li, who was right behind in 56.73.

The 100 breaststroke featured winner Kathleen Baker (1:03.22), the Olympic silver medalist in the 100 back, as well as fourth-place finisher Weitzeil, a two-time Olympic medalist as a sprint freestyle.

Freshmen Anina Lund (1:53.93) and Maddie Murphy 1:53.99) paced the 200 free, while junior Noemie Thomas, the national leader in the 100 fly, won her specialty in 53.66.

Following a road trip to Arizona next month, Cal returns home for three dual meets – vs. USC on Friday, Jan. 27, vs. UCLA on Saturday, Jan. 18 and vs. Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 11.


http://www.calbears.com/news/2016/12/21/womens-swimming-diving-no-2-cal-swims-past-san-jose-state.aspx


------


[SIZE=4]MEET RESULTS[/SIZE]: http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/calberk.sidearmsports.com/documents/2016/12/21/12_21_16_Cal_San_Jose_State_results.pdf


------

[COLOR="#006699"]
Jaz with some very encouraging swims today...for example, 2nd fastest fly split in the [U]200 Medley relay[/U], swifter than Maddie...Katie was the only one who went faster in the entire field...Jasmine's 23.34 split on her [U]200 Free relay[/U] was equal to KV's and a bit quicker than Val's 23.44! Hope that's an indication of Mau's return to form as her scoring & relay flexibility contribution would be a tremendous boost to Bears' chances @ NCAAs!

No Maija, Phoebe or Maggie.
- Pheebs @ USA Diving Winter National Championships.
- Maggie yet to compete for Bears AFAIK?
- Spartans' Cari Reiswig & Bears' Hayden Tavoda go 1-2 in both springboard competitions today.
[/COLOR]

------

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842781186 said:

---

------

I went belatedly to the meet and did not as usual walk down to the bleachers so I stood at the upper level railing. While there I struck up a long conversation with a lady standing next to me who turned out to be Amy Bilquist's grandmother. What a delightful lady! We talked for almost an hour and I only saw the end of most races except when Amy swam. Next to her was Amy's brother--- a real tall guy like Amy--who now lives in Oregon after finishing college in Arizona.

I asked Amy's grandma if she lived in Indiana where Amy went to Carmel HS. She said that Amy lived in several states (Arizona, Minnesota and Indiana) as her father apparently kept getting promoted in his job. Interesting Amy's gramma said she lived 4 years in Orinda, CA, which, of course, we in the Bay Area know is just a few miles away.

So UAC you need to get to a Cal meet in person sometime. You never know who you will run into or see from fans and swimmers.
[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]NO. 2 CAL SWIMS PAST SAN JOSE STATE[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=1]The Bears closed out the calendar year with a 178-113 victory over the Spartans (cal.isiphotos.com)[/SIZE]


BERKELEY On the first day of winter, Cal and San Jose State staged a dual meet under the warm sunshine at Spieker Aquatics Complex Wednesday afternoon, with the second-ranked Golden Bears prevailing, 178-113.

Three Cal swimmers won two events apiece, with sophomore Katie McLaughlin winning the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.83) and 200 individual medley (2:093.89); sophomore Amy Bilquist claiming the 50 free (22.88) and 200 back (1:59.67); and senior Celina Li taking the 100 free (51.68) and 200 breast (2:18.91).

The meet comes during a period of intense training for the Bears. After winning the Georgia Fall Invitational in early December, Cal won't face another opponent in head-to-head competition until the Pac-12 dual meet season almost eight weeks later.

"The goal for today was to give us the opportunity to swim some different things and have a racing experience," head coach Teri McKeever said. "When we go from the first part of December until mid-January, that's a long time. As a coach, you like a month where we can just focus on training, and to put a racing experience in there breaks it up a bit."

Instead of holding a typical 1000-yard free during the meet, the coaches inserted a 100 IM, and Cal freshman Abbey Weitzeil came through in 55.94, edging out Li, who was right behind in 56.73.

The 100 breaststroke featured winner Kathleen Baker (1:03.22), the Olympic silver medalist in the 100 back, as well as fourth-place finisher Weitzeil, a two-time Olympic medalist as a sprint freestyle.

Freshmen Anina Lund (1:53.93) and Maddie Murphy 1:53.99) paced the 200 free, while junior Noemie Thomas, the national leader in the 100 fly, won her specialty in 53.66.

Following a road trip to Arizona next month, Cal returns home for three dual meets vs. USC on Friday, Jan. 27, vs. UCLA on Saturday, Jan. 18 and vs. Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 11.


http://www.calbears.com/news/2016/12/21/womens-swimming-diving-no-2-cal-swims-past-san-jose-state.aspx


------


[SIZE=4]MEET RESULTS[/SIZE]: http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/calberk.sidearmsports.com/documents/2016/12/21/12_21_16_Cal_San_Jose_State_results.pdf


------

[COLOR="#006699"]
Jaz with some very encouraging swims today...for example, 2nd fastest fly split in the [U]200 Medley relay[/U], swifter than Maddie...Katie was the only one who went faster in the entire field...Jasmine's 23.34 split on her [U]200 Free relay[/U] was equal to KV's and a bit quicker than Val's 23.44! Hope that's an indication of Mau's return to form as her scoring & relay flexibility contribution would be a tremendous boost to Bears' chances @ NCAAs!

No Maija, Phoebe or Maggie.
- Pheebs @ USA Diving Winter National Championships.
- Maggie yet to compete for Bears AFAIK?
- Spartans' Cari Reiswig & Bears' Hayden Tavoda go 1-2 in both springboard competitions today.
[/COLOR]

------

---

longseeker;842781336 said:

---

Well UAC you may be envious.....I went belatedly to the meet and did not as usual walk down to the bleachers so I stood at the upper level railing. While there I struck up a long conversation with a lady standing next to me who turned out to be Amy Bilquist's grandmother. What a delightful lady! We talked for almost an hour and I only saw the end of most races except when Amy swam. Next to her was Amy's brother--- a real tall guy like Amy--who now lives in Oregon after finishing college in Arizona.

I asked Amy's grandma if she lived in Indiana where Amy went to Carmel HS. She said that Amy lived in several states (Arizona, Minnesota and Indiana) as her father apparently kept getting promoted in his job. Interesting Amy's gramma said she lived 4 years in Orinda, CA, which, of course, we in the Bay Area know is just a few miles away.

So UAC you need to get to a Cal meet in person sometime. You never know who you will run into or see from fans and swimmers.

---

[COLOR="#006699"]That's so brill, longseeker!!! Always luv hearing stories like yours, cheers for sharing! :beer: Guess it was fortuitous indeed that you ended up @ the upper railing instead of your usual bleachers spot...btw reckon tedbear may be even more envious of your encounter than I am, seeing how Amy is such a favourite of his :p

Yeah that would be Brian, who's even taller than Amy - those genes must come from their dad lol:







------

Oooh, really wish I could take in a meet or two this season...but sadly not in the cards for a return to the East Bay in the near future, as I'm presently based over on the East Coast...do occasionally travel, alas it's all in the other direction tho (back to the UK for a visit, or on assignment to Paris & Milan [SIZE=4][COLOR="#ff3399"]������[/COLOR][/SIZE]).
[/COLOR]

------


Amy: Puppy at practice!!! Thanks Michael for bringing in Cal ���� @CalWSwim



calwswimanddive : Post morning practice picture with Michael and his dog Cal! #GoBears #CalTheDog

https://instagr.am/p/BOU73XQhvtW


------

[COLOR="#006699"]
btw, massive congrats to you longseeker for the unheard feat of receiving many more upvotes than downvotes (+13 v. -1 at this point in time), in response to your comment on that SwimSwam article (link at end of the post) lol Extremely impressed at my end, seeing that pro-Bears remarks (esp with regards to the women's team) have as of late been sadly inundated with "dislikes" by an inexplicable majority of active commenters on SwimSwam... :facepalm
[/COLOR]

------


calwswimanddive: Highlights from today's meet vs. San Jose State. #GoBears



https://instagr.am/p/BOTTBVwB81m


------


[video=youtube;CBX3Kh2pce8][/video]

------



[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]NO. 2 CAL SWIMS PAST SAN JOSE STATE[/SIZE][/COLOR]



https://swimswam.com/no-2-cal-swims-past-san-jose-state/


------

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842780354 said:

---

Not expecting any impressive times as Teri & Ian's squad would have already started their intensive Xmas training, i.e. they'll be racing unrested, in practice suits and a relatively slow outdoors pool. Not the most competitive or crucial of meets either (no disrespect to the SJSU Spartans who have an outstanding 1m springboard diver in Cari Reiswig), so I'd expect to see quite a bit of experimentation in the relay lineups along with a bunch of off-event swims.

---

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842781143 said:

---

Abbey's 20.92 anchor split for her C team in the [U]200 Free relay[/U] is bloody impressive for a mid-season dual! Could well be the fastest 50 Free split (from a flying start) for anyone in the NCAA thus far in the season... For reference, Abbey's American record & NCAA mark = 21.12

---

[COLOR="#006699"]Haha I will now get on my knees and humbly beg Abbey (& Oski ) to graciously forgive my having so massively undersold Weitzeil's stellar achievement, in my pre-meet comment as well as my initial post-race reaction above to her wtf (in a good way lol) split...

Actually our sprint ace freshie has historically always given her best and beyond when helping her team as in relays, so casually unleashing the "2nd fastest split of all-time" yesterday under relatively unusual circumstances shouldn't come as that much of a surprise...though that time is certainly quite mind-boggling :p
[/COLOR]

------



[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]CONFIRMED: ABBEY WEITZEIL SPLITS 20.92 ANCHORING FREE RELAY[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=1]Cal freshman Abbey Weitzeil blasted an in-season sub-21 relay split yesterday, apparently the second fastest split of all-time. [/SIZE]

Yesterday, we shared a press release recapping what would typically a pretty under-the-radar meet between the women of Cal and San Jose State. Yet, one result stuck out: an apparent 20.92 anchor leg by freshman Abbey Weitzeil on Cal's "C" 200 free relay, which would be one of the fastest times in history.

Now, you do occasionally see some pretty outrageous relay splits due to various touch pad issues, and it seemed pretty crazy that Weitzeil would be that fast at a relatively low-key duel meet, almost certainly untapered and in a training suit.

However, we reached out to Cal for confirmation, and they responded that it was a confirmed split, with no touchpad malfunction. While we can never be 100% sure, especially as there is still the possibility of something like a bad exchange that wasn't caught by the officials, this appears to be the second-fastest relay split ever, and the only sub-21 split done outside of a championship meet.

Our astute readers pointed out the other four sub-21 splits that we've been able to confirm, and here they are with links to the original stories:

Anna Vanderpool-Wallace 20.80
Ivy Martin 20.96
Margo Geer 20.98
Megan Romano 20.99

On one hand, that a swimmer could go this fast in season is simply mind-blowing. On the other hand, Weitzeil is the American Record holder in the 50 free, boasting a time of 21.12. If you assume a flying start gives you an extra 0.5 to 0.7 seconds, that means that it's certainly reasonable to expect Weitzeil to be able to go somewhere around on a relay start 20.5 come championship season.

The bottom line to all of this: swimmers continue to get faster, and we should be set for an absolutely epic 50 free battle come March at the NCAA championships.


https://swimswam.com/confirmed-abbey-weitzeil-splits-20-92-anchoring-free-relay/


------

------



[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]COMPARING TOP NCAA WOMEN'S TEAMS TO THEMSELVES LAST YEAR[/SIZE][/COLOR]

This year's Cal team from the Oregon State meet was beaten narrowly by last year's team from the Utah meet 106-102. The Cal women's mid season taper results last year are scattered across a couple meets (Winter Nationals, Winter Nationals Time Trials) so it's difficult to directly compare their mid season from to last year. They are ranked 2nd in the [COLOR="#000099"]current top times scoring of the mid season times[/COLOR].


https://swimswam.com/comparing-top-ncaa-womens-teams-to-themselves-last-year/


------


Amy: Smiling our way through our last practice of 2016 in Spieker




------


Dana: When you're so tired from X-mas training but your teammates help you pull it together to end with a great workout!!! ��������*♀️
@amybilquist




------

I have to admit that when I first heard of Farida signing with us, I had no clue who she was. Thank god Teri knows way more than us casual fans.

https://swimswam.com/2016-swammy-awards-africa-female-swimmer-year-farida-osman/

tedbear;842782855 said:

---

I have to admit that when I first heard of Farida signing with us, I had no clue who she was. Thank god Teri knows way more than us casual fans.

https://swimswam.com/2016-swammy-awards-africa-female-swimmer-year-farida-osman/

---

[COLOR="#006699"]Hear hear on that! Farida may have flown under a lot of people's swim radar, but our Egyptian princess' astute recruitment by Teri and her subsequent development into one of the most invaluable contributors to the team and her teammates are a veritable testimony to the quality of her coach and the programme here :beer:


Oh, and here's yet another well-deserved award for a fave Bear of ours:[/COLOR]

------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]2016 SWAMMY AWARDS: AGE GROUP SWIMMER OF THE YEAR 17-18[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=4]RUNNER-UP[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][COLOR="#DAA520"]Amy Bilquist[/COLOR] California Aquatics, Berkeley, California[/SIZE]

Bilquist, who before heading off to college represented Carmel Swim Club, was a freshman at Cal throughout the first half of 2016 where, still 18, she set a national age group record (50.50) in the 100y back in prelims at 2016 Pac-12 Women's Championships. She eclipsed fellow Golden Bear Rachel Bootsma's 2012 mark by 4/100.

Bilquist continued her impressive freshman season with a fourth-place finish in the 100y back and a fifth in the 200y back at 2016 NCAA Division I Championships. She also contributed several outstanding splits to Cal's relays, including a 1:42.89 anchor on the 4200 free relay and a 21.64 anchor on the national-champion 450 free relay.

Bilquist posted the #1 times in the country for 17-18 girls during the 2016 calendar year in the 100 back and 200 back, both in SCY and LCM. She aged out of the 17-18s with top-100 rankings all-time in the 50y free (#13), 100y free (#8), 200y free (#41), 100y back (#1), and 200y back (#4), as well as the 50m free (#4), 100m free (#25), 100m back (#3), and 200m back (#4).


https://swimswam.com/2016-swammy-awards-age-group-swimmer-year-17-18/


------

[COLOR="#006699"]
A bit off topic, but the same article above awarded 2017 baby :bear: Ryan Hoffer & Sean Grieshop [U]runners-up[/U] recognition.


No surprises either as to who SwimSwam picked for "NCAA MALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR"...[/COLOR]





https://swimswam.com/2016-swammy-awards-ncaa-male-swimmer-year/


------

:gobears:

------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]NCAA MAJOR CONFERENCE MIDSEASON RANKINGS[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=3]Pac 12 Women:[/SIZE]

[U]TEAM | CURRENT SCORE | LAST YEAR 12/31 SCORE | ACTUAL LAST YEAR SCORE (W/ DIVING)[/U]
[COLOR="#B22222"]Stanford[/COLOR] | 717 | 571 | 1344
[COLOR="#DAA520"]California[/COLOR] | 668 | 506 | 1305
Arizona | 515 | 579 | 1124
Southern Cali | 514 | 585 | 1480
UCLA | 317 | 367 | 994
Utah | 223 | 314 | 538
Arizona St | 182 | 145 | 472
Washington St. | 127 | 188 | 477
Oregon St | 78 | 100 | 291


https://swimswam.com/ncaa-major-conference-midseason-rankings/


------


USA Swimming: NCAA teams are training hard around the country right now. A look at trying to predict what it will take to win the NCAA championships.







------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]SWIMULATOR TOP 25 RANKINGS FOR ALL 3 NCAA DIVISIONS[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=3]D1 Women:[/SIZE] https://swimulator.herokuapp.com/preseason?gender=Women&division=D1

[U]Rank | Team | National Win % (delta) | Conference | Conference Win % (delta) | Invite Strength | Dual Strength[/U]
1 | [COLOR="#B22222"]Stanford[/COLOR] | 27.2 (4.4) | Pac 12 | 40.4 (1.2) | 684.0 | 123.0
2 | [COLOR="#DAA520"]California[/COLOR] | 17.2 (-4.2) | Pac 12 | 33.6 (-0.6) | 678.0 | 116.0
3 | Georgia | 14.4 (0.8) | SEC | 48.4 (7.4) | 639.0 | 111.0
4 | Texas | 9.4 (0.8) | Big 12 | 95.8 (-1.2) | 614.0 | 112.0
5 | Texas A&M | 4.2 (0.2) | SEC | 24.6 (-3.8) | 595.0 | 99.0
6 | Virginia | 7.0 (1.8) | ACC (Atlantic Coast) | 32.4 (0.6) | 588.0 | 106.0
7 | Arizona | 4.8 (-0.4) | Pac 12 | 10.8 (-0.8) | 585.0 | 94.0
8 | Southern Cali | 3.2 (-0.8) | Pac 12 | 13.8 (0.6) | 582.0 | 102.0
9 | Louisville | 1.4 (-0.6) | ACC (Atlantic Coast) | 23.4 (-3.2) | 581.0 | 98.0
10 | Michigan | 3.0 (-0.4) | Big Ten | 38.6 (2.6) | 572.0 | 103.0
11 | NC State | 2.0 (-0.2) | ACC (Atlantic Coast) | 19.6 (3.4) | 540.0 | 93.0
12 | Missouri | 1.8 (0.0) | SEC | 11.0 (-1.2) | 536.0 | 90.0
13 | Indiana | 0.4 (-0.6) | Big Ten | 21.8 (2.0) | 527.0 | 93.0
14 | UNC | 0.2 (-0.2) | ACC (Atlantic Coast) | 12.2 (0.2) | 526.0 | 86.0
15 | Kentucky | 1.0 (-0.2) | SEC | 5.8 (-2.6) | 516.0 | 84.0
16 | Minnesota | 1.0 (0.6) | Big Ten | 13.6 (1.2) | 513.0 | 89.0
17 | Wisconsin | 0.4 (-0.4) | Big Ten | 14.2 (-0.2) | 496.0 | 87.0
18 | Auburn | 0.4 (0.2) | SEC | 3.6 (0.2) | 493.0 | 84.0
19 | UCLA | 0.4 (0.4) | Pac 12 | 1.0 (-0.4) | 490.0 | 86.0
20 | Ohio St | 0.8 (0.2) | Big Ten | 8.4 (-4.4) | 485.0 | 87.0
21 | Florida St | 0 (-0.2) | ACC (Atlantic Coast) | 4.8 (-0.4) | 469.0 | 79.0
22 | LSU | 0.4 (0.0) | SEC | 1.4 (-1.4) | 460.0 | 74.0
23 | Duke | 0.2 (0.0) | ACC (Atlantic Coast) | 4.8 (0.6) | 458.0 | 73.0
24 | Alabama | 0 (0) | SEC | 1.0 (-0.6) | 456.0 | 75.0
25 | Notre Dame | 0 (0) | ACC (Atlantic Coast) | 0.6 (-1.4) | 454.0 | 73.0


https://swimswam.com/swimulator-top-25-rankings-3-ncaa-divisions/


------

------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]Mid-Term Grades: Division I Women[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="#696969"]January 2nd, 2017[/COLOR]


As teams head into the new semester, we took a look at the most-improved teams from this time last season.



We compared teams by using their mid-season power points from last season and last Fall, along with their relative change in ranking positions.

Overall, women's teams are 1.3% faster than this time last year with several teams with nearly a quarter (indicated with an asterisk) already ahead of last season's conference championship score.

The improvements are largely coming from one of three areas.

Some schools (like Stanford, and Southern Methodist) are benefitting from the post-Olympic influx or return of talent. Adding swimmers like Katie Ledecky or Simone Manuel will change a lineup overnight.

Florida State, Arizona State, Houston and New Mexico are all seeing the benefits of new coaches. The hiring of Neil Studd and Dorsey Tierney are paying immediate benefits for the Seminoles and Lobos. Arizona State and Houston, meanwhile, are seeing the impact of Bob Bowman and Ryan Wochomurka coming through in their sophomore season.

The third group, led by Michigan and California, are benefitting from breakthrough seasons by upperclassmen. Granted, Michigan didn't have Yirong Bi at this time last season, but nevertheless, teams like the Bears and Wolverines seeing improvement despite the graduation of major players like Ali DeLoof and Elizabeth Pelton.


[SIZE=3]Division I - Women[/SIZE]

[U]Rank | Last Year | Team | Last Year | This Year | Change | Up/Down[/U]
1 | 4 | [COLOR="#B22222"]Stanford[/COLOR] | 867.3 | 911.8 | 5.1% | 3*
2 | 9 | [COLOR="#DAA520"]California[/COLOR] | 845.5 | 904.2 | 6.9% | 7
3 | 2 | Georgia | 882.0 | 881.5 | -0.1% | -1
4 | 8 | Texas | 852.1 | 879.2 | 3.2% | 4*
5 | 5 | Texas A & M | 865.2 | 872.8 | 0.9% | 0
6 | 3 | Southern California | 873.0 | 870.3 | -0.3% | -3
7 | 1 | Virginia | 885.4 | 868.4 | -1.9% | -6
8 | 7 | Arizona | 853.0 | 863.0 | 1.2% | -1*
9 | 21 | Michigan | 808.3 | 853.4 | 5.6% | 12
10 | 19 | NC State | 809.9 | 852.3 | 5.2% | 9
11 | 13 | Missouri | 829.6 | 848.2 | 2.2% | 2
12 | 15 | Kentucky | 815.1 | 842.1 | 3.3% | 3*
13 | 17 | Wisconsin | 812.1 | 837.4 | 3.1% | 4*
14 | 26 | Minnesota | 800.0 | 833.0 | 4.1% | 12*
15 | 32 | North Carolina | 786.1 | 830.0 | 5.6% | 17
16 | 6 | Louisville | 864.8 | 826.5 | -4.4% | -10
17 | 36 | Florida State | 779.2 | 825.1 | 5.9% | 19*
18 | 23 | Ohio State | 802.8 | 824.1 | 2.6% | 5
19 | 11 | Auburn | 842.8 | 821.2 | -2.6% | -8
20 | 18 | UCLA | 812.0 | 821.1 | 1.1% | -2
21 | 14 | Indiana | 822.8 | 820.3 | -0.3% | -7
22 | 30 | Denver | 786.6 | 813.9 | 3.5% | 8
23 | 27 | Louisiana State | 796.6 | 808.9 | 1.5% | 4
24 | 24 | Duke | 801.7 | 807.2 | 0.7% | 0*
25 | 12 | Florida | 835.0 | 802.6 | -3.9% | -13


https://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2017/jan/02/mid-term-grades-division-i-women/


------

[COLOR="#006699"]
Er, no actual new content as we are still in the midst of the winter break

------

Just wanted to, for reference, point out that a separate thread has been created to cover the [COLOR="#DAA520"]Hawaii training trip[/COLOR] which is happening right now (mostly photos :p)...click the link below for that:

[INDENT][COLOR="#000080"][SIZE=4]2016-2017 Season: Women's Swimming - *Winter Training trip* [/SIZE][/COLOR][/INDENT]



------

Discussions on the 2nd half of the season will probably resume here in earnest after the team returns to campus, later next week.

First scheduled competitions of 2017 will be the Pac-12 away duals v. Zona & ASU the weekend of [U]20-21 Jan[/U], where Teri's squad will be joined by Dave's team.
[/COLOR]

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842786649 said:

---

First scheduled competitions of 2017 will be the Pac-12 away duals v. Zona & ASU the weekend of [U]20-21 Jan[/U], where Teri's squad will be joined by Dave's team.

---

[COLOR="#006699"]Spoke too soon lol...our Bears divers, both the women & the men (well, actually just one man haha), are competing @ [U]UCLA's Diving Invite[/U] this weekend.

Have yet to see either Maggie Gallagher or Finn Scribbick repping Cal in a competition this season though - neither are entered in this meet.[/COLOR]

------


[COLOR="#0066cc"][SIZE=5]UCLA Hosts Utah, Bruin Diving Invitational[/SIZE][/COLOR]



http://www.uclabruins.com/news/2017/1/11/swimming-diving-ucla-hosts-utah-bruin-diving-invitational.aspx


[COLOR="#DAA520"][SIZE=3][U]DIVING[/U] Results[/SIZE][/COLOR]: https://secure.meetcontrol.com/divemeets/system/meetresultsext.php?meetnum=4309


------


[COLOR="#0099cc"][SIZE=5]Many personal bests set at Bruin Diving Invitational for Cal women's diving[/SIZE][/COLOR]


After a year of important firsts for Cal sophomore Phoebe Lamay, she led the diving squad to a strong start at the Bruin Diving Invitational. From Friday to Sunday, the Bears competed against Pac-12 foes such as USC, UCLA and Utah at the Spieker Aquatics Center.

While shaking off the rust from not competing in a month and a 10-day break from the holidays, Lamay struggled with the first event: the 3-meter springboard. Of the 36 divers entered in the competition, she placed 21st and failed to advance to the finals. On the second day, Lamay shook off her first day jitters by finishing 11th in the platform diving event. She capped the weekend with a fifth-place finish in the 1-meter springboard, her best event.

"(Lamay) was competing on a sprained foot," said Cal diving coach Derek Starks. "It was very impressive for her to get up and do as well as she did."

As Lamay battled an injury, freshman Mia Diliberto was well on her way toward a personal best in the 1-meter springboard before hitting her hand on the diving board on her fourth dive, forcing her to scratch the rest of the event. She finished 18th and 23rd in the 3-meter springboard and platform diving events, respectively.

Senior Hayden Tavoda, the elder stateswoman of the young team, had the Bears' most complete performance. She placed 11th in the 3-meter and seventh in the 1-meter springboard diving events. Like the other members of the roster, Tavoda had an apparent weakness, which was the platform diving event, where she placed 25th.

"We had a lot of personal bests," Starks said. "A lot of our divers were competing brand new dives. Seeing them get in there and hold themselves together with those new dives and get personal bests and finals was impressive."

Starks has made a stark difference to Cal's diving program. The team had just one NCAA qualifier last year who failed to score whereas Georgia and Stanford the two teams that finished ahead of the Bears at last year's NCAA Championship had multiple scoring performances across the three diving events


http://www.dailycal.org/2017/01/16/many-personal-bests-set-bruin-diving-invitational-cal-womens-diving/


------

[COLOR="#006699"]
Swim Bears past & present, hanging out in Sausalito - KV, Alicia, Missy, Liz, Farida etc.
[/COLOR]

---


Lizzie - [COLOR="#696969"]15 Jan 2017[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#A9A9A9"]Bar Bocce[/COLOR]

Boats, bocce and birthdays ⛵️��



https://instagr.am/p/BPToOdGlitf


---


Marina - [COLOR="#696969"]18 Jan 2017[/COLOR]

Happy birthday to the person that loves cheesecake, salmon, sleeping and green tea more than anyone I know. Hope your day is full of crowns!��❤️




---


Amy - [COLOR="#696969"]18 Jan 2017[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#A9A9A9"]Egypt[/COLOR]

Egyptian princess +birthday girl +best friend = Farida Osman #BowDownToTheQueen love you so much have a SICKKKK birthday



https://instagr.am/p/BPbHpIShy2btWEyO6A1HJKJzH21EptX_Gpf3WA0


---

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842775004 said:

---

"For the women, Greg Meehan's Stanford Cardinal maintained its stranglehold on the top spot. Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel and Ella Eastin all posted times that rank first nationally at Ohio State. Cal and Georgia actually tied for second, but the Bears maintain the no. 2 spot after edging Georgia in the team race at the Georgia Invite this past weekend. Virginia and Texas round out the top five."

[SIZE=3]Division I Women[/SIZE]:

[U]RANK | PREV | TEAM | POINTS[/U]
1 | 1 | Stanford | 221
2 | 10 | California | 212
2 | 2 | Georgia | 212
4 | 5 | Virginia | 190
5 | 3 | Texas | 176
6 | 4 | Michigan | 171
7 | 7 | Texas A&M | 162
8 | 8 | Southern Cal | 160
9 | 6 | NC State | 158
10 | 24 | Arizona | 153


http://www.cscaa.org/top25/

---

------


[COLOR="#336699"][SIZE=5]Texas Women Jump to #1: Cal Continues to Lead Men[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="#696969"]January 17, 2017[/COLOR]




http://www.cscaa.org/news/2017117/texas-women-jump-to-1-cal-continues-to-lead-men


------





------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]TEXAS WOMEN VAULT TO CSCAA #1 AFTER UPSET OF GEORGIA[/SIZE][/COLOR]


Carol Capitani and the Texas women are riding high after ending Georgia's 22-year home winning streak last week. Archive Photo via Mike Lewis/Ola Vista Photography


https://swimswam.com/texas-women-vault-to-cscaa-1-after-upset-of-georgia/


------

------


[COLOR="#003399"][SIZE=5]Pac-12 Weekly Preview: Cal, Stanford Swim-and-Swap Arizona, Arizona St.[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[COLOR="#696969"]18 January 2017, 10:15am[/COLOR]


http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/pac-12-weekly-preview-cal-stanford-swim-and-swap-arizona-arizona-st/


------


[COLOR="#000080"][SIZE=5]Arizona Hosts California, Stanford in Pac-12 Home-Opening Weekend[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR="#696969"][U]Women/Men[/U]: No. 10/11 ARIZONA vs. No. 2/1 California
[U]When[/U]: Fri. Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. MST
[U]Where[/U]: TUCSON, Ariz.[/COLOR]


Eyeing the Competition
The second-ranked California women's swimming and diving team is 3-1 on the season, beating Oregon State, Washington State and San Jose State, but dropping the meet to Texas. Before topping San Jose State, the Bears won the Georgia Invitational with a score of 914.

History versus California
Last season, the women dropped the meet to California with a score of 114-185 on a rainy day in Berkeley. The last time the Cats hosted the then-No. 1 Bears, Arizona took them to the final relay event to decide the meet, but ultimately fell 143-157.


http://www.arizonawildcats.com/news/2017/1/18/cal-stan-preview.aspx


------


[COLOR="#800000"][SIZE=5]Top-15 Matchups on Tap for @ASUSwimDive Senior Weekend[/SIZE][/COLOR]


January 18, 2017

TEMPE, Ariz. This weekend brings the nation's top-ranked teams to Mona Plummer Aquatic Center as the Sun Devils also celebrate their seniors in the class' final two career home meets.

Saturday's Senior Day presentation will start at 11:45 am on the pool deck.


THE DETAILS

Friday's meet vs. Stanford starts at 2 pm while [COLOR="#DAA520"]Saturday's meet vs. Cal starts at 12 noon[/COLOR]. Both will be at Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex (601 S College Ave. Tempe, AZ 85287) and are free to the public.

The Sun Devil men are ranked #12 in the most recent TYR/CSCAA polls while Stanford's women are #2 and men are #8. Additionally, [COLOR="#DAA520"]Cal's men are #1 and women are #6[/COLOR].

This weekend's meets will feature one of the most significant tests for the Sun Devils this season.


SCOUTING CAL

The nation's top-team, the Cal men earned a 172-52 win in their only dual meet of the season thus far (vs. Pacific to open the season).

The Bears won the Georgia Fall Invitational in December for which backstroker Ryan Murphy garnered Pac-12 Male Swimmer of the Month accolades.

[COLOR="#DAA520"]On the women's side, also winning the Georgia Invitational, the #6 team in the nation is 3-1 with dual wins over Oregon State, Washington State, and San Jose State. The team's lone loss was in a narrow #5 Texas victory, 152-148 in mid-November.

Phoebe LaMay was named Pac-12 Women's Diver of the Month for November after setting school records for the 1-mtr dive (dual meet vs. Texas) and 3-mtr dive (Texas Diving Invitational).[/COLOR]

Over the winter training break, Yuri Suguiyama led a Team USA squad that took home 30 combined medals between the women and men at FINA championships in Canada.


http://www.thesundevils.com/news/2017/1/18/mens-swimming-diving-top-15-matchups-on-tap-for-asuswimdive-senior-weekend.aspx


------

-----


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]Cal Heads To Desert For Pair of Meets[/SIZE]

[COLOR="#808080"] [SIZE=3]1/18/2017 1:32 PM | By: Cal Athletics[/SIZE][/COLOR] [/COLOR]



Cal visits Arizona at 1 p.m. Friday and Arizona State at 11 a.m. Saturday.


With the start of the spring semester underway this week, Cal returns to the competition pool with dual meets at Arizona Friday and Arizona State Saturday. The events kick off the final portion of the season with remaining matchups set for Berkeley's Spieker Aquatics Center - vs. USC Jan. 27, vs. UCLA Jan. 28 and vs. Stanford Feb. 11.

The Golden Bears enter the new year with 15 individual and five relay swims that rank among the top 10 in the country. Five of those marks rate at the top of the charts - Amy Bilquist (100 back, 50.85), Kathleen Baker (200 back, 1:49.83), Noemie Thomas (100 fly, 50.67), [U]200 free relay[/U] (1:26.31) and [U]400 medley relay[/U] (3:28.33). In fact, Cal is the only school to have all five relay times in the nation's top five.

Cal leads the all-time series with Arizona, 22-11 and won last year's meet in Berkeley. 185-114. The Bears own a 24-10-1 series advantage over ASU and came out on top last year, 181-98.


[INDENT][SIZE=3][COLOR="#000080"]Complete Release[/COLOR][/SIZE]: http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/calberk.sidearmsports.com/documents/2017/1/18/01_18_17_at_Arizona_ASU.pdf

[SIZE=3][COLOR="#DAA520"]ASU Live Stream[/COLOR][/SIZE]: http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university-2[/INDENT]


http://www.calbears.com/news/2017/1/18/womens-swimming-diving-cal-heads-to-desert-for-pair-of-meets.aspx


-----


calathletics - [COLOR="#696969"]19 Jan 2017[/COLOR]

Fast starts.
#GoBears


[COLOR="#808080"]Thleen (judging by the placement of that Olympic rings tat... :p ...Jaz in the background?)[/COLOR]


https://instagr.am/p/BPdNmM_AYFx


-----

------


[COLOR="#0099cc"][SIZE=5]No. 6 Cal women's swim hits road for matches against Arizona, Arizona State[/SIZE][/COLOR]


While Berkeley is ready to weather the rain for the week, the No. 6 Cal women's swim team will travel this weekend to the desert areas of Tucson, Arizona, and Tempe, Arizona, for dual meets against Arizona and Arizona State.

Arizona the Bears' opponent Friday afternoon is a program ready to challenge the California hegemony in collegiate swimming. The Wildcats return an incredible freshman class that propelled them to fourth and 12th place finishes at the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships, respectively, last year. Sophomores Annie Ochitwa and Katrina Konopka have set the bar high. Konopka is best in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, but she's also a very capable 100-yard backstroke. Her stellar performance at the Texas Invitational, where she notched three NCAA B time standards in her individual events and was a critical leg in the four relays that earned the NCAA A time cut, earned her December's Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month.

A story about Konopka and Arizona, however, would not be complete without Ochitwa. While her sprint freestyle is not quite at the same level as that of Konopka, Ochitwa makes up for it by being an elite sprint butterflyer and backstroker. At the Texas Invitational, she managed to put it all together for a very good 200-yard individual medley time. The dynamic duo is a very competitive unit across the collegiate swimming world.

Arizona has many other important athletes on its roster, such as freshmen Hannah Cox and Kirsten Jacobsen, who fulfill extremely important roles that Konopka and Ochitwa are unable to do. The squad is without significant weaknesses in any of the disciplines, but it lacks the depth needed to take a bigger swing at titans like Cal.

Arizona State, on the other hand, hasn't fared as well against Pac-12 opponents, but it was among CollegeSwimming's most improved Division I programs last year. Under the direction of head coach Bob Bowman, the Sun Devils are heading in the right direction. Bowman, best known for having coached Michael Phelps, has recruited and developed solid talents.

Sophomore Marlies Ross and senior Katarina Simonovic lead the way for Arizona State.

Ross represents the Sun Devil's most lethal weapon against Cal. She specializes in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200- and 400-yard individual medley events. While the Bears are capable of holding their own in the individual medley events, they lack an elite breaststroke specialist, which will make the breaststroke races at the dual meet interesting. At last year's dual meet between Cal and Arizona State, Ross made an immediate impact as a spring entree, earning her a second-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley and 200-yard backstroke.

Simonovic represented Team Serbia at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle events. As a sophomore, Simonovic qualified for the NCAA Championship in the short course yard's version of those events.

The sixth-ranked Cal squad is certainly capable of kicking the competition out of the water in this weekend's meet. So far, the Bears have logged 15 individual and five relay swims in the top 10 nationally, headed by sophomores Amy Bilquist and Kathleen Baker. Cal, which hasn't competed since its dual meet against San Jose State almost four weeks ago, will certainly have some stiff competition in its first weekend back into conference meets.


http://www.dailycal.org/2017/01/18/no-6-cal-womens-swim-hits-road-matches-arizona-arizona-state/


------

---


calwswimanddive - [COLOR="#696969"]19 Jan 2017[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#A9A9A9"]Oakland International Airport[/COLOR]

Bears in route to Arizona for dual meets vs @arizonaswimdive and @sundevilswimdive this weekend! #BearsInFlight #TackyPeaceSign #GoBears ��



[COLOR="#696969"]Back: Farida, Jaz
Front: Katie, Jenna, Amy[/COLOR]


https://instagr.am/p/BPeBGh7Bvns


---


calwswimanddive - [COLOR="#696969"]20 Jan 2017[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#A9A9A9"]Hillenbrand Aquatics Center U of A Campus[/COLOR]

Morning splash before the Bears face off against @arizonaswimdive at 2:00pm MST! #GoBears





https://instagr.am/p/BPfre_Whbdk


---


calwswimanddive - [COLOR="#696969"]20 Jan 2017[/COLOR]

Time for a high 5: It's meet day for the Bears at Arizona.





https://instagr.am/p/BPfkVyHBcbF


---

[COLOR="#006699"]
Look forward to assessing where everyone's at over the weekend. Bears having completed their winter training trip @ Hawaii recently, and surely deep in training right now - so don't expect any eye-popping times or records falling left & right! (hopefully those will be reserved exclusively for NCAAs instead ).

Zona shouldn't be underestimated either as they are presently ranked [U]#5[/U] nationally by SwimSwam: [COLOR="#000000"][FONT=Arial]"with all five relays ranked inside the top 8 nationally. That includes a nation-leading 200 medley relay with a time (1:34.63) that would have won NCAAs a year ago. The Wildcats currently have a swimmer in NCAA scoring position in every freestyle distance and have a wealth of sprint freestyle talent that could overcome questionable depth"[/FONT] [/COLOR]

Will be interesting to track Hannah Cox's performance & progress this afternoon, her having been wooed by Teri in the [U]freshie class of 2016[/U]...even took an official trip to Cal (alongside Furdette Katie Drabot & Vols Meghan Small), but ultimately chose to go with the Wildcats... :nono:
[/COLOR]

---

---


[COLOR="#000080"][SIZE=5]2016-2017 Women's NCAA Power Rankings January Edition[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[INDENT][COLOR="#696969"]Jared Anderson | January 20th, 2016[/COLOR][/INDENT]


Texas is surging with a big win over Georgia, but no one can quite unseat Stanford at the top of our first Power Rankings of 2017. The Cardinal are still the team to beat, though midseason rest meets caused some major shakeups behind them.


#20: Wisconsin Badgers (Previous Rank: #16)

Cierra Runge and Danielle Valley are a top-tier distance duo, and the Badgers already have an A cut in the 800 free relay. But the other relays are lagging with the sprint group struggling and star recruit Beata Nelson hasn't been anywhere near her top times.


#19: North Carolina Tar Heels (Previous Rank: N/A)

The nation's #5 200 free relay is led by Caroline Baldwin, who is having a great year. Hellen Moffitt swam well at Short Course Worlds and should be in line to put up some great season-ending times. But there's not much else there at the national level yet for the Heels, who are still waiting on some high-level depth.


#18: Florida State Seminoles (Previous Rank: N/A)

A couple of relay A cuts under their belts, Florida State also boasts the second-fastest 100 breaststroker of the season: junior Natalie Pierce. Junior College product Tayla Lovemore is also making some national waves in the 100 fly.


#17: Tennessee Volunteers (Previous Rank: #13)

Tennessee is either slumping hard or really hasn't shown its hand this season. Outside of an impressive 51.7 100 backstroke from Kira Toussaint way back in October, the Vols have zero swims ranking in the NCAA's top 16 as of now. That includes relays, where Tennessee ranks in the 20s, 30s and even 50s nationally. Still, there's a wealth of talent on the roster, including blue chip recruit Meghan Small, who could be a game changer by herself if she comes around at taper.


#16: Ohio State Buckeyes (Previous Rank: #19)

Zhesi Li is handling the sprints and Lindsay Clary the distance. Can Ohio State fill in the gaps in between? Breaststroker Taylor Vargo is doing a nice job, and all-arounder Meg Bailey has already hit lifetime-bests in 6 events this season.


#15: Minnesota Golden Gophers (Previous Rank: #18)

Brooke Zeiger is turning into a force, holding the 4th-fastest 400 IM in the nation and the 2nd-fastest 1650 free. (The latter also counts as the fastest non-Katie Ledecky miler, or the fastest human miler). Kierra Smith is back from redshirt and holding pace with stellar freshman Lindsey Horejsi for the Gophers, who also have some quick medley relays.


#14: Kentucky Wildcats (Previous Rank: N/A)

Kentucky has a few highly-ranked relays, but the kicker is in the 200 back, where the Wildcats field no less than four swimmers ranked inside the NCAA's top 16. Freshmen Asia Seidt and Ali Galyer are joining junior Bridgette Alexander and defending NCAA champ Danielle Galyer in what could be a monster event for the 'Cats.


#13: Indiana Hoosiers (Previous Rank: #11)

IU's relay strength is hidden behind a smokescreen at this point as the fastest breaststroke splitter in history (one Lilly King) didn't swim the team's mid-season rest meet. She still leads the NCAA with her times from the U.S. College Challenge and is the heavy favorite to win NCAA breaststroke titles. The rest of the roster is a little hard to predict, but Gia Dalesandro is in good shape in the butterflys.


#12: Missouri Tigers (Previous Rank: #12)

Missouri's got a couple nice medley relays and a very nice backstroke duo in Hannah Stevens and Nadine Laemmler. Breaststroker Katherine Ross is another key piece and Sharli Brady is already swimming lifetime-bests in the IMs.


#11: Louisville Cardinals (Previous Rank: #7)

Louisville has five good relays that all rank in NCAA scoring position, led by a 5th-ranked 200 medley. Mallory Comerford is one of the premier mid-distance swimmers in the nation and Andee Cottrell is a breaststroke star. But Louisville needs some individual scorers to emerge around those two to jump back into the top 10 at NCAAs.


#10: NC State Wolfpack (Previous Rank: #10)

The Wolfpack is very tough in the backstrokes, especially with FGCU transfer Elise Haan already swimming near lifetime-bests in both backstrokes. NC State already has a pair of A cuts in relays and ranks 13th or higher in all five relay races. Keep an eye on the sprint group, where Alexia Zevnik is setting the pace but a number of young swimmers could step into the NCAA limelight with good taper meets.


#9: Michigan Wolverines (Previous Rank: #9)

Michigan has been blowing up this season, centering especially on some huge swims at the US College Challenge and the Georgia Invite. G Ryan and Rose Bi are among the nation's most dynamic distance duos, sitting inside the top 6 in both the 500 and 1650. Siobhan Haughey is swimming great and freshman Vanessa Krause is providing a butterfly threat the Wolverines haven't fielded in some time.


#8: Texas A&M Aggies (Previous Rank:#6)

IMer Sydney Pickrem leads a versatile group of stroke specialists out of College Station. That group very possibly includes multiple NCAA scorers in both breaststrokes, both IMs and both butterflys. Keep a special eye out for Bethany Galat, who had a breakout summer and was just off her lifetime-best 400 IM at the Art Adamson Invite in November.


#7: Virginia Cavaliers (Previous Rank: #8)

One of just 4 teams with NCAA A cuts in all five relays, Virginia is a nice round roster with potential NCAA scorers in almost every discipline. Laura Simon sits third nationally in both breaststrokes this season and Leah Smith is probably the best non-Katie Ledecky threat in the distances. Virginia needs a deep sprint group to break out into some more top-end talent, and will also need to find a viable replacement for graduated backstroker Courtney Bartholomew.


#6: USC Trojans (Previous Rank: #4)

The Trojans have a very versatile roster that showed up big at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite. Freshman Louise Hansson is a wide-ranging threat who has already made huge impacts swimming freestyle, butterfly and IM. USC currently has three swimmers ranked inside the NCAA's top 16 in the 200 IM and all three are sophomores and younger (freshmen Hansson and Tatum Wade plus sophomore Kirsten Vose). The Trojans should load up on relay points, though they're a bit weak in distance and backstroke. The latter should change if Hannah Weiss has a good postseason.


#5: Arizona Wildcats (Previous Rank: #14)

The blowup team of December, Arizona is starting to look like a national power with all five relays ranked inside the top 8 nationally. That includes a nation-leading 200 medley relay with a time (1:34.63) that would have won NCAAs a year ago. The Wildcats currently have a swimmer in NCAA scoring position in every freestyle distance and have a wealth of sprint freestyle talent that could overcome questionable depth to float the team on relay points in the postseason.


#4: Texas Longhorns (Previous Rank: #5)

Texas has been red-hot lately, swimming a brutal Stanford team tough and then downing Georgia, both on the road. Senior Madisyn Cox leads the NCAA in the 200 IM currently, and Texas is incredibly strong in the backstrokes and butterflys. A sign of a complete roster: Texas is currently the only team with a swimmer ranked inside the NCAA's top 16 in every single event this season. The next step is continuing that momentum through the postseason.


#3: Georgia Bulldogs (Previous Rank: #2)

A home loss to a good (and fired up) Texas team slides Georgia down just a bit, if only because it's been so long since the Bulldogs lost a dual meet at home. Still boasting the nation's best 400 free relay, Georgia is built to contend at SECs and NCAAs. Despite the return of Olympian Simone Manuel and the debut of American record-holder Abbey Weitzeil, Bulldog Olivia Smoliga still leads the NCAA ranks in the 50 and 100 freestyles.


[COLOR="#000066"]#2: [COLOR="#DAA520"]California Golden Bears[/COLOR] (Previous Rank #3)

In typical Cal fashion, the Golden Bears of 2017 have a couple major holes (breaststroke and distance) but are so absurdly loaded in everything else that the deficiencies almost don't matter. California has two swimmers apiece in the top 8 of the 100 and 200 back along with a whopping four swimmers inside the top 12 in the 100 fly. Freshman sprinter Abbey Weitzeil has already been worth the gap-year wait. And even without a great true breaststroker on the roster, Cal leads the nation in the 400 medley and sits 2nd in the 200 medley relay as no Golden Bear relay ranks lower than 3rd.[/COLOR]


#1: [COLOR="#B22222"]Stanford Cardinal[/COLOR] (Previous Rank: #1)

Stanford's freestyle dominance is unparalleled, and there's no sign that anyone in the NCAA can currently hang with the Card. 4 ranked scorers in the 50 free, 3 in the 100 free and 4 in the 200 free, plus the far-and-away NCAA title favorite in the 500 and 1650 with Katie Ledecky. It's also worth noting that Ledecky sits #2 in the NCAA in the 400 IM behind teammate (and defending NCAA champ) Ella Eastin. Stanford, too, has a breaststroke problem but has enough talent to overcome a one-discipline hole.


https://swimswam.com/2016-2017-womens-ncaa-power-rankings-january/


---

---


Cal W Swim/Dive: .@CalWSwim opens 2017 with a convincing [U]181-119[/U] win at Arizona. Next up: at Arizona State Saturday at 11 am. #GoBears


[COLOR="#DAA520"][SIZE=3]RESULTS[/SIZE] =>[/COLOR] http://www.arizonawildcats.com/documents/2017/1/20//Arizona_vs_California_Results.pdf


---

------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]BEARS FINISH STRONG AT ARIZONA[/SIZE]

[COLOR="#808080"] [SIZE=3]1/20/2017 2:07 PM | By: Cal Athletics[/SIZE][/COLOR] [/COLOR]



Noemie Thomas remained undefeated in dual meets in the 100 and 200 fly this season with two victories Friday.


TUCSON, Ariz. With victories in 11 of 16 events, California kicked off 2017 with a convincing 181-119 dual-met win at Arizona Friday afternoon.

Freshman Abbey Weitzeil swept the 50 and 100 freestyle events, while sophomore Amy Bilquist captured the 100 and 200 backstroke, and junior Noemie Thomas claimed the 100 and 200 butterfly. Bilquist remained undefeated in either backstroke in dual-meet competition this season, and the same holds true for Thomas in both butterfly races and Weitzeil in the 50 free.

The Golden Bears picked up one victory each from senior Marina Garcia in the 200 breaststroke, senior Celina Li in the 200 individual medley and sophomore Phoebe LaMay on the 3-meter springboard. Cal also prevailed in both relays the 200 medley and the 400 free.

The meet was the Bears' first since returning from a 10-day training trip and coincided with the end of the first week of the spring semester.

"The first meet is always a little tough because of the transition back to school and our regular routine," head coach Teri McKeever said. "With good leadership from our senior class, I thought we really stepped up in the second half of the meet. I like the way we responded after being challenged. This was a total team effort."

Cal won four of the first eight races, then took seven of the last eight events, including a 1-2-3 finish by Weitzeil, senior Kristen Vredeveld and senior Farida Osman in the 100 free.

The Bears return to action on Saturday, facing off against Arizona State in Tempe at 11 a.m. The meet will be streamed live at this [U][COLOR="#000080"]link[/COLOR][/U] .


[INDENT][SIZE=3][COLOR="#DAA520"]Meet Results[/COLOR][/SIZE]: http://www.calbears.com/documents/2017/1/20//01_20_17_Cal_at_Arizona_results.pdf[/INDENT]


http://www.calbears.com/news/2017/1/20/womens-swimming-diving-bears-finish-strong-at-arizona.aspx


------

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842797593 said:

---

------


[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]BEARS FINISH STRONG AT ARIZONA[/SIZE]

[COLOR="#808080"] [SIZE=3]1/20/2017 2:07 PM | By: Cal Athletics[/SIZE][/COLOR] [/COLOR]



Noemie Thomas remained undefeated in dual meets in the 100 and 200 fly this season with two victories Friday.


TUCSON, Ariz. With victories in 11 of 16 events, California kicked off 2017 with a convincing 181-119 dual-met win at Arizona Friday afternoon.

Freshman Abbey Weitzeil swept the 50 and 100 freestyle events, while sophomore Amy Bilquist captured the 100 and 200 backstroke, and junior Noemie Thomas claimed the 100 and 200 butterfly. Bilquist remained undefeated in either backstroke in dual-meet competition this season, and the same holds true for Thomas in both butterfly races and Weitzeil in the 50 free.

The Golden Bears picked up one victory each from senior Marina Garcia in the 200 breaststroke, senior Celina Li in the 200 individual medley and sophomore Phoebe LaMay on the 3-meter springboard. Cal also prevailed in both relays the 200 medley and the 400 free.

The meet was the Bears' first since returning from a 10-day training trip and coincided with the end of the first week of the spring semester.

"The first meet is always a little tough because of the transition back to school and our regular routine," head coach Teri McKeever said. "With good leadership from our senior class, I thought we really stepped up in the second half of the meet. I like the way we responded after being challenged. This was a total team effort."

Cal won four of the first eight races, then took seven of the last eight events, including a 1-2-3 finish by Weitzeil, senior Kristen Vredeveld and senior Farida Osman in the 100 free.

The Bears return to action on Saturday, facing off against Arizona State in Tempe at 11 a.m. The meet will be streamed live at this [U][COLOR="#000080"]link[/COLOR][/U] .


[INDENT][SIZE=3][COLOR="#DAA520"]Meet Results[/COLOR][/SIZE]: http://www.calbears.com/documents/2017/1/20//01_20_17_Cal_at_Arizona_results.pdf[/INDENT]


http://www.calbears.com/news/2017/1/20/womens-swimming-diving-bears-finish-strong-at-arizona.aspx


------

---

Notes
-Abbey is still out splitting Marina on the medley relays by over a half second. Don't know whether to laugh, cry, or smile, that our best sprinter is also our best breast stroker.
-Hannah Cox is just as good as we thought she was going to be. Oh well, we can't get them all.
-Kathleen didn't swim in either backstroke event. Hmmm, interesting.