Bears Place Eighth At NCAA Championships
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The California women's swimming & diving team wrapped up a strong showing at the 2025 NCAA Championships on Saturday, producing six more All-American honors and finishing in eighth place in the overall team standings.
Virginia won its fifth consecutive national championship while the Golden Bears recorded their best team performance since also placing eighth in 2022. Graduate student Maya Geringer (1,650-yard freestyle), junior Abby Herscu (200 breaststroke) and fifth-year senior Isabelle Stadden (200 backstroke) all placed in the top 8 in their respective events to earn First Team All-American accolades.
Seniors Leah Polonsky and Lilou Ressencourt placed 10th and 11th, respectively, in the 200 butterfly and Cal's 400 freestyle relay team of freshmen Mary-Ambre Moluh and Mia West, Polonsky and senior McKenna Stone also finished 10th for Second Team All-American honors. In all during the meet, the Bears produced 16 All-American certificates and eight times that rank among the program's all-time top 10. Among those top times was a school record in the very first race of the meet – the 200 medley relay on Wednesday with a time of 1:33.54.
Polonsky's performance Saturday polished a memorable final NCAA Championships for the senior. Having already earned First Team All-American honors in both the 200 individual medley and 200 freestyle previously during the meet, she entered the 200 butterfly as the No. 25 seed but qualified 10th to reach the B-final. Including relays, Polonsky earned seven All-American nods during the championships.
Herscu, the No. 14 seed in the 200 breaststroke, recorded the third-best time ever at Cal during morning prelims (2:07.60) to qualify for the first championship final of her career. She ended up placing eighth. Stadden, meanwhile, was the No. 7 qualifier in the 200 backstroke, moving her into the A-final of the event for the fifth straight season. She also placed eighth in the final.
Geringer, who in her one season at Cal had already recorded the second-best time in the 1,650 freestyle in program history, bettered her mark Saturday – placing fifth with a time of 15:48.27. It resulted in First Team All-American honors for the first time in her career after garnering Second Team accolades four times while competing at Ohio State.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS:
Virginia 544
Stanford 417
Texas 394
Indiana 312
Tennessee 298
Florida 232
Louisville 209.5
Cal 202.5
Michigan 196
NC State 164