ATLANTA – The No. 6 California men's swimming & diving team took a big step toward successfully defending its conference team championship by winning three individual and relay titles Friday on the penultimate night of the 2026 ACC Championships at McAuley Aquatic Center at Georgia Tech University.
Evan Petty (100-yard backstroke) and Yamato Okadome (100 breaststroke) each won his first career individual conference championship and the Golden Bears' 400 medley relay team also captured the title as Cal maintained its lead in the team standings heading into Saturday's final day of competition.
The Bears, who won the ACC team championship in 2025 in their first season in the conference, are in first place with 827 points while rival Stanford is in second with 799 points. There will be five events contested Saturday.
Petty just snuck into the A-final by nabbing the eighth and final qualifying spot during morning prelims but outdistanced the field swimming from the outside. His winning time of 44.21 was the fifth-best ever in the event at Cal and No. 6 in the country this season.
Okadome, who finished third in the 100 breast as a freshman last year at the ACC meet, set the ACC Championship meet record with a career-best time of 50.32, which is also the No. 2 time in the country this season. He will enter next month's NCAA Championships as one of the favorites in the event.
Petty (backstroke), Okadome (breaststroke), Casper Puggaard (butterfly) and Martin Wrede (freestyle) teamed up to win the 400 medley relay with the No. 3 time this season nationally and sixth-best mark at Cal (3:00.74).
Saturday's prelims commence at 6:30 a.m. PT with the finals at 2:30 p.m. PT.
