swimmer19 said:
Sean may or may not be absolutely killing his heat in the mile as we speak...
Edit: 14:35.82!!
Yasss!!!
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2019 MEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 4 FINALS LIVE RECAP
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2019 NCAA Championships (Men's Swim/Dive)
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168 Replies |
Last: 5 yr ago by BearDevil
Yasss!!!
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2019 MEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAY 4 FINALS LIVE RECAP
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Stormin' Norman takes 3rd in the mile- 14:32.12! Adding in afternoon heats, Sean takes 4th!
Bryce and Daniel take 3rd and 5th in the 200 back- 1:38.65 and 1:39.33
Holy heck Dean.
But in more Bears-relevant news, Hoff and Pawel go 6th and 8th in the 100 free.
But in more Bears-relevant news, Hoff and Pawel go 6th and 8th in the 100 free.
Nathan presenting awards for 100 free 
Bears clinch title before diving and relay!!!
Murph did it for the 200 Backswimmer19 said:
Nathan presenting awards for 100 free
Cal is so consistent in every event (except diving). The Bears blew away the Longhorns in the 1 mile swim, the 200m breast & the 200m butterfly. The teams roughly tied in the 100m free and Texas thrashed Cal in the 200m
backstroke, 50-30. Cal has gained 79 points today and was up by approximately 40 entering Saturday. Neither team scored in diving today and still awaiting the final results in the 400m freestyle relay. It should be close in that event. I agree with BearDevil that the men have captured the national championship! GO BEARS!
backstroke, 50-30. Cal has gained 79 points today and was up by approximately 40 entering Saturday. Neither team scored in diving today and still awaiting the final results in the 400m freestyle relay. It should be close in that event. I agree with BearDevil that the men have captured the national championship! GO BEARS!
Bears take 3rd in the 4FR... but we're NCAA champions!
Tony presenting awards!
Does anyone know when their flight gets in to SFO or OAK.? I would like to be there.
A bit more to cap off a Beary Brill evening & season! Go Bears!
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The Bears celebrate winning the sixth NCAA title in school history and first since 2014.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!
Cal Earns NCAA Title With Convincing Victory In The Pool
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2019 NCAA MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS: FINAL SCORING SUMMARY
Current photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography
BY ANDREW MERING
Cal was really really good this weekend. As the cliche goes: Texas didn't lose the meet, Cal won it. The Texas men scored 475 points, 26 points more than they scored to win the meet last year. Cal scored 560, the 9th most points any men's team has ever scored at NCAA's and the most by any team at this meet since 2004. There have only been 4 previous instances of a team scoring at least 475 points and failing to win the title.
Cal led the scored psych sheet going into the meet and picked up an absolutely ridiculous 158 points over their seeds. Harvard gained the next most points over their seeds with a gain of 83. Texas were next with a gain of 80. Texas's gain of 80 is a very solid performance, but was still 78 fewer than Cal. The Longhorns didn't choke, they just ran into a buzz saw.
The engine of the Cal buzz saw was their sophomores who scored 178 individual points, the most of any class at the meet. Next best were Indiana's seniors who scored 161.
Another thing impressive about the Cal sophomore's performance is how much they improved since last year. Last year as freshmen they scored 87.5 points. They more than doubled that total this year. By comparison the highest scoring freshmen class last year were the Texas freshmen who scored 104 individual points. This year as sophomores, that group scored 69 points.
Texas scored the most diving points with 84.
Cal scored in every single swimming event. The highest single event point total was Texas's 50 points in the 200 back.
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Alright, still on a bit of a high, so going to inundate this thread just a mite more lol, this time with some great images courtesy of Peter H. Bick & Swimming World... :p
...and courtesy of SwimSwam:
First he slips, next he leaps (photo: Jack Spitser)
Whitley leaps into the water (photo: Jack Spitser)
Cal Celebration (photo: Jack Spitser)
Cal Celebration (photo: Jack Spitser)
Cal Huddle Celebration (photo: Jack Spitser)
Cal Men ready to get their trophy (photo: Jack Spitser)
Cal Senior Celebration (photo: Jack Spitser)
Swimmer of the meet Andrew Seliskar hypes up the Cal men one last time (photo: Jack Spitser)
Cal Men greet the parents and alumni (photo: Jack Spitser)
Dominating performance and a fitting capstone to a magical season by an eminently likable, charismatic, and deserving championship team led by an exemplary senior class and stellar coach. Slightly bummed I won't be able to see this team compete again, but the future is bright. Fiat Lux!
Durden meticulously built a monster. A finalists in every individual swimming event and top three in all five relays. 560 points is a huge number, but the 'Whorns' 475 is more telling. Only four teams in NCAA history have scored that many points and not become champions. Similar to Teri's 2015 team that scored 513 points and still beat a Georgia team that exceeded (the almost always) magical 450 point title threshold. Fact that it took place in Austin made it much more golden.
Also worth looking at returning 2020 points:
Bears-279 (178 from rising juniors)
Texas-176
LSJU-54
'SC-7
Seli is an absolute beast. Went 12 for 12 as an A finalist during his storied Cal career. He's so versatile that he made A Finals in 5 different individual events as a Bear. Also a relay stalwart. Thomas, Nicky, and Sand all scored at NCAAs as seniors.
The 2020 team will be heavy favorites. Pawel, Quah, Reece, Hoffer, Grieshop, Trenton, Carr, and Mefford are all very good swimmers already who have the opportunity to become stars and leaders of a team capable of winning at least two more titles. Will be interesting to see if Arvidsson and Biondi can reach their full potential.
Durden richly deserved another Coach of the Year award and will be a terrific Olympic Coach. As great a recruiter and technically proficient a coach he is, his best attribute is the team environment he's created. The team competes hard with ample amounts of swag and joy. Can't imagine any academically minded recruits with national and international swimming aspirations can pass on the camaraderie after watching the Carr reswim.
Roll on you Bears!
Durden meticulously built a monster. A finalists in every individual swimming event and top three in all five relays. 560 points is a huge number, but the 'Whorns' 475 is more telling. Only four teams in NCAA history have scored that many points and not become champions. Similar to Teri's 2015 team that scored 513 points and still beat a Georgia team that exceeded (the almost always) magical 450 point title threshold. Fact that it took place in Austin made it much more golden.
Also worth looking at returning 2020 points:
Bears-279 (178 from rising juniors)
Texas-176
LSJU-54
'SC-7
Seli is an absolute beast. Went 12 for 12 as an A finalist during his storied Cal career. He's so versatile that he made A Finals in 5 different individual events as a Bear. Also a relay stalwart. Thomas, Nicky, and Sand all scored at NCAAs as seniors.
The 2020 team will be heavy favorites. Pawel, Quah, Reece, Hoffer, Grieshop, Trenton, Carr, and Mefford are all very good swimmers already who have the opportunity to become stars and leaders of a team capable of winning at least two more titles. Will be interesting to see if Arvidsson and Biondi can reach their full potential.
Durden richly deserved another Coach of the Year award and will be a terrific Olympic Coach. As great a recruiter and technically proficient a coach he is, his best attribute is the team environment he's created. The team competes hard with ample amounts of swag and joy. Can't imagine any academically minded recruits with national and international swimming aspirations can pass on the camaraderie after watching the Carr reswim.
Roll on you Bears!
Great team win. Durden had them perfectly prepared.
BearDevil said:
Dominating performance and a fitting capstone to a magical season by an eminently likable, charismatic, and deserving championship team led by an exemplary senior class and stellar coach. Slightly bummed I won't be able to see this team compete again, but the future is bright. Fiat Lux!
Durden meticulously built a monster. A finalists in every individual swimming event and top three in all five relays. 560 points is a huge number, but the 'Whorns' 475 is more telling. Only four teams in NCAA history have scored that many points and not become champions. Similar to Teri's 2015 team that scored 513 points and still beat a Georgia team that exceeded (the almost always) magical 450 point title threshold. Fact that it took place in Austin made it much more golden.
Also worth looking at returning 2020 points:
Bears-279 (178 from rising juniors)
Texas-176
LSJU-54
'SC-7
Bears also have waiting in the wings Hugo Gonzalez who should offer immediate help next year. I assume he is still on board in joining next yr.
I'd just assumed Barkley spoke of the bears after the last 2 weekends of swimming madness.
Capping off a superb week for the Bear Bros -- superb two weeks for both Cal swim teams as a whole! -- with some links cheering on the men's title, especially in light of besting the power rankings all season that have projected Texas at the top over the Bears.
(to accompany this write-up about Dave discussing the build-up and enthusiasm of the men's week).
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2019 MEN'S NCAAS: HOW DID SWIMSWAM'S POWER RANKINGS HOLD UP?
Overperformers: ... Cal is the other notable one. We kept them at #2 most of the year, and while they swam absolutely lights-out at NCAAs, we also probably should have framed the meet closer to a 50/50 toss-up between Cal and Texas coming in. Maybe that's inertia on our part, not wanting to doubt a Texas team that had pretty consistently shown up at NCAAs the past four years.
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2019 MEN'S NCAAS: HOW DID THE COMMENT SECTION DO?
A fun feature, all around. Glad the SS staff rolled this article/series out for the women's and men's meets!
Roll on, Bears
(to accompany this write-up about Dave discussing the build-up and enthusiasm of the men's week).
---
2019 MEN'S NCAAS: HOW DID SWIMSWAM'S POWER RANKINGS HOLD UP?
Overperformers: ... Cal is the other notable one. We kept them at #2 most of the year, and while they swam absolutely lights-out at NCAAs, we also probably should have framed the meet closer to a 50/50 toss-up between Cal and Texas coming in. Maybe that's inertia on our part, not wanting to doubt a Texas team that had pretty consistently shown up at NCAAs the past four years.
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2019 MEN'S NCAAS: HOW DID THE COMMENT SECTION DO?
A fun feature, all around. Glad the SS staff rolled this article/series out for the women's and men's meets!
Roll on, Bears
OBear073akaSMFan said:BearDevil said:
Dominating performance and a fitting capstone to a magical season by an eminently likable, charismatic, and deserving championship team led by an exemplary senior class and stellar coach. Slightly bummed I won't be able to see this team compete again, but the future is bright. Fiat Lux!
Durden meticulously built a monster. A finalists in every individual swimming event and top three in all five relays. 560 points is a huge number, but the 'Whorns' 475 is more telling. Only four teams in NCAA history have scored that many points and not become champions. Similar to Teri's 2015 team that scored 513 points and still beat a Georgia team that exceeded (the almost always) magical 450 point title threshold. Fact that it took place in Austin made it much more golden.
Also worth looking at returning 2020 points:
Bears-279 (178 from rising juniors)
Texas-176
LSJU-54
'SC-7
Bears also have waiting in the wings Hugo Gonzalez who should offer immediate help next year. I assume he is still on board in joining next yr.
Looks like Hugo missed his NCAA taper at Auburn, but if he hits his SEC times (400 IM, 200 IM, 200 Back), he should score ~40 points. That brings the Bears up to 220 points before relays.
Need to replace Seli and Thomas on the 800 Free Relay (3rd-Mefford and Trenton return), Seli on the 200 Free Relay (1st-Pawel, Jenny, and Hoffer return), Fly leg on 400 Medley Relay (2nd-Carr, Reece, and Hoffer return), and 400 Free Relay (3rd-Pawel, Hoffer, and Jenny return).
200 Medley Relay-2nd returns intact (Carr, Reece, Pawel, Hoffer).
Quah, Jenny, or Forker could swim 800 legs. Quah or Biondi could swim 200 legs. Quah, Jenny, or Biondi could swim 400 legs. Quah or Pawel could swim the Fly leg on the 400 Medley.
Is there anyone out there who feels qualified to share information on recruiting for the Cal men's swim team?
Looking at Swimswam, we can look forward to two 2019 recruits (Louser and Petrides) and two 2020 recruits (Lasco and Frazier).
It looks like Texas and North Carolina State have particularly strong 2019 classes coming in.
Are we in the running for any more 2020 recruits?
Looking at Swimswam, we can look forward to two 2019 recruits (Louser and Petrides) and two 2020 recruits (Lasco and Frazier).
It looks like Texas and North Carolina State have particularly strong 2019 classes coming in.
Are we in the running for any more 2020 recruits?
mighty bears said:
Is there anyone out there who feels qualified to share information on recruiting for the Cal men's swim team?
Looking at Swimswam, we can look forward to two 2019 recruits (Louser and Petrides) and two 2020 recruits (Lasco and Frazier).
It looks like Texas and North Carolina State have particularly strong 2019 classes coming in.
Are we in the running for any more 2020 recruits?
2019- our full list of recruits includes SwimSwam's #13 Jason Louser (breast/IM) from NY and #18 Michael Petrides (distance) of HI, along with in-staters Calvin David (distance), Colby Mefford (back/free), Preston Niayesh (breast). Other domestic recruits include Will Pelton from MD (back) and Addie Laurencelle of SC (sprint). We also have two internationals (Sebastian Somerset (Canada- free/back) and Jacques Lauffer (Switzerland- breast/IM)).
2020- current recruits list gives us SwimSwam's #2 Destin Lasco (everything) of NJ, #18 Forrest Frazier from IA (breast/fly), HM Dare Rose, also from NJ (fly/free?). In-stater Dylan Hawk (fly/free) and legacy recruit Matthew Jensen from PA (everything) rounds out our current class. We lost in-state visitor Gianluca Urlando (SS #4) to UGA and #25 (CollegeSwimming) Matthew King from WA to Indiana. Still waiting to hear back from SwimSwam's #5 Ethan Dang, #9 Adam Chaney, and #15 Luke Maurer.
Of our 2020 visitors who are yet uncommitted, ED looks to be a Furd lean at this point but swims on the same team as current frosh Kyle Millis and 2019 commit Sarah DiMeco. Chaney swims for the Mason Manta Rays and is teammates with the Fosters, both of whom are Horns commits and also visited Austin and Columbus (OSU). Maurer is a double Stanford Swimming legacy and also visited the Furds.
NCS has a huge class coming in, headlined by #5 Ross Dant, #12 Noah Bowers, #14 Noah Henderson, and HMs Hunter Tapp and Kimani Gregory. Texas snagged the #1 recruits for both 2019 and 2020, siblings Jake and Carson Foster. Horns' 2019 class is headlined by #6 Caspar Corbeau (whose dad was a Cal alum) and #11 Ethan Harder.
Wow! Great summary. Thanks for taking the time, Swimmer19. It is much appreciated.
"That brings the Bears up to 220 points before relays"
Since we return 279 from the current squad, I'm assuming you meant that we are at @ 320 before relays if Durden can get Hugo up to top form, which I believe is a decent bet. Observers who have watched Hugo practice with the team have been impressed.
So given the depth on the team, I can pencil out @ 166 projected relay points, bringing us up to the magic 500 point level that usually is good for the win. In fact, Texas won in 2018 with 437.5. The Whorns performed much better as a team in 2019 scoring 475 and still were crushed by the Bears.
Quah, Julian, Carr and Mefford are my bets to increase their NCAA scoring next year. Arvidsson should score based on his A cut 200 breast and Jhong and maybe Louser have outside shots, as does Callahan. Hoffer, Grieshop, Sendyk and Whitley are reliable studs.
Adding Hugo, Lasco, Louser, Petrides, Frazier, Rose and a top diver to the squad over the next two years should keep us very competitive despite 3 straight highly rated recruiting classes (2018-2020) by Texas and their top scoring diving team that is good for a 90 point edge before a Cal swimmer takes the block.
We should be favorites in 2020, but Texas has a very talented roster and will be highly motivated to regain the crown.
Since we return 279 from the current squad, I'm assuming you meant that we are at @ 320 before relays if Durden can get Hugo up to top form, which I believe is a decent bet. Observers who have watched Hugo practice with the team have been impressed.
So given the depth on the team, I can pencil out @ 166 projected relay points, bringing us up to the magic 500 point level that usually is good for the win. In fact, Texas won in 2018 with 437.5. The Whorns performed much better as a team in 2019 scoring 475 and still were crushed by the Bears.
Quah, Julian, Carr and Mefford are my bets to increase their NCAA scoring next year. Arvidsson should score based on his A cut 200 breast and Jhong and maybe Louser have outside shots, as does Callahan. Hoffer, Grieshop, Sendyk and Whitley are reliable studs.
Adding Hugo, Lasco, Louser, Petrides, Frazier, Rose and a top diver to the squad over the next two years should keep us very competitive despite 3 straight highly rated recruiting classes (2018-2020) by Texas and their top scoring diving team that is good for a 90 point edge before a Cal swimmer takes the block.
We should be favorites in 2020, but Texas has a very talented roster and will be highly motivated to regain the crown.
This is indeed a good recruiting summary. A couple of notes:
1)Louser's has a nice 3:44.87 PB in the 400 IM swam in Dec 2018. Will have great swimming partners in Sean Grieshop and Trent Julian.
2) Forrest Frazier by my reckoning is the top 2020 breaststroke recruit versus Swimswam's choice of Ethan Dang. Forrest has a PB of 52.51 in the 100 back on 12/7/2018 compared to Dang's 53.48. Dang is a bit faster in the 200 155.26 versus Forrest's 1:55.23 but I like Frazier's potential in the 200 IM as a possible 3rd event.
3) We may not be finished with positive recruiting news. The staff doesn't like to talk about international recruits because there is a more risk that they don't show up on campus compared to a comparable domestic recruit. But something more than feelers are out.
4) Our 2019 diving recruit is Nick Hart from Indianapolis. Would be awesome if he was able to excel quickly, since NCAAs are in Indianapolis next March.
swan said:
This is indeed a good recruiting summary. A couple of notes:
4) Our 2019 diving recruit is Nick Hart from Indianapolis. Would be awesome if he was able to excel quickly, since NCAAs are in Indianapolis next March.
Regarding the diving in the NCAA meet, I noticed that most of the top divers have much more Degree Difficult (DD) dives compared to the Bears divers (including the women divers). I can imagine you can win even with lower DD but there is less room for errors on their dives. So they pretty well have to have a near perfect dive. I am sure the dives everyone are doing dives they are most comfortable but is this the coaches decision in what are divers perform? Just difficult to see Texas stays in the meet because of their diving pts.
Thanks for catching my error.swan said:
"That brings the Bears up to 220 points before relays"
Since we return 279 from the current squad, I'm assuming you meant that we are at @ 320 before relays if Durden can get Hugo up to top form, which I believe is a decent bet. Observers who have watched Hugo practice with the team have been impressed.
So given the depth on the team, I can pencil out @ 166 projected relay points, bringing us up to the magic 500 point level that usually is good for the win. In fact, Texas won in 2018 with 437.5. The Whorns performed much better as a team in 2019 scoring 475 and still were crushed by the Bears.
Quah, Julian, Carr and Mefford are my bets to increase their NCAA scoring next year. Arvidsson should score based on his A cut 200 breast and Jhong and maybe Louser have outside shots, as does Callahan. Hoffer, Grieshop, Sendyk and Whitley are reliable studs.
Adding Hugo, Lasco, Louser, Petrides, Frazier, Rose and a top diver to the squad over the next two years should keep us very competitive despite 3 straight highly rated recruiting classes (2018-2020) by Texas and their top scoring diving team that is good for a 90 point edge before a Cal swimmer takes the block.
We should be favorites in 2020, but Texas has a very talented roster and will be highly motivated to regain the crown.
If you average the 2019 relay finishes, Bears come out at 2.2. If they hold serve, should add 170 (5*34) relay points. That's pretty close to your 166 estimate, which puts the Bears right around 500 points. Durden absolutely nailed the team's tapers across the board this season, so that may be slightly high, but the Bears do have an excellent shot at a repeat.
Kinda doubt Bears will be up against the 18 man limit, even in the best case of divers Callahan and Hart. There are plenty of proven vets (Pawel, Quah, and Jenny) already in the pipeline for additional relay roles, but would love to see Forker and Biondi break through. Good news is the team is so deep that none of the froskies absolutely need to move into relay legs immediately, so they can focus on their individual events fully rested at their first NCAAs. Durden's done a masterful job of nurturing talent and experience. Would be awesome to see Forker, Arvidsson, and Biondi shine as upperclassmen.
An Olympic year complicates things a bit. Quah and Pawel should be locks to make their countries' teams. Reece has a good shot too. Lauffer, Song, and Somerset are longer shots. Durden needs to mix in some LCM training and racing to prepare those guys (and the American junior class stars) for their respective trials. He sent a few Bears (who qualified for NCAAs mid-season) to a pro LCM meet in lieu of PACs in 2016 and may do the same next season.
With the 2020 team's depth, duals (3 scorers per event) and PACs (up to 24 scorers per event) will be a cakewalk. That same depth allows Durden to add high character swim projects like Addie (skinny with a huge frame, limited experience and competition) with hopes they'll develop into NCAA scorers later.
Also kinda interesting that breastrokers Roy and Dang have come up in a few different threads. Roy competes hard, but his upside is limited on the farm. Nort can develop breatstrokers, so it would be silly for any academically minded breaststrokers to to pass up a Cal offer.
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