Andrei Minakov, Stanford Secure Win Over Cal in Season’s Final Dual Meet
In the country’s final dual meet for the 2023-24 college season, the Stanford men’s team pulled off an upset win against top rival and two-time defending national champion California. One week after the Cal women scored a surprising win over Stanford in Berkeley, the Cardinal men returned the favor in Palo Alto, winning by a margin of 170-130.
Stanford began the day by beating Cal by three hundredths in the 200 medley relay. Rex Maurer set the tone by tying Cal star Bjorn Seeliger on the backstroke leg, and Ron Polonsky and Andrei Minakov built a lead, with Minakov splitting 19.73 on butterfly. On the anchor leg, freshman Jonathan Tan split 18.98 to hold off a surge from Cal’s Jack Alexy, who went 18.36, and Stanford won the race 1:23.35 to 1:23.38.
As individual events began, Stanford went on a run. Liam Custer went wire-to-wire in the 1000 freestyle, coming out on top with a time of 8:57.19, and in the 200 free, freshman Henry McFadden scored the win in 1:32.62, with teammate Luke Maurer taking second (1:32.81). Destin Lasco got Cal on the board in the 100 backstroke, taking the win in 45.26, but Stanford came back with Polonsky winning the 100 breaststroke (51.39) and Zhier Fan taking second (51.70) and Minakov dominating the 200 butterfly.
Minakov swam a time of 1:38.61 in the 200 fly, clipping his previous season best of 1:38.63. Minakov ranks second in the country behind Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun. The junior continued his impressive day by winning the 100 fly in 44.60.
Fan led the way for Stanford in the 200 breast, clocking 1:52.68 to take the win while Ethan Dang (1:53.51) and Hayden Zheng (1:54.88) made it a sweep. In diving, Stanford’s Jack Ryan took first on 1-meter (355.35) and 3-meter (396.68).
Cal’s Seeliger topped the 50 free in 18.83 before clocking 41.83 to win the 100 free, and fifth-year swimmer Colby Mefford won the 200 back (1:41.97). In the 500 free, Gabriel Jett took first place in a swift time of 4:10.43, which ranks behind only Georgia’s Jake Magahey in the national standings this season.
In the 200 IM, Lasco held off Polonsky’s breaststroke surge to take the win in 1:41.28, and Cal concluded the meet by winning the 400 free relay. Alexy led off in 41.52, and he was followed by Seeliger, Liam Bell and Jett in a 2:47.93 clocking. Stanford made it close down the stretch, with Luke Maurer going 41.88 on the third leg and Minakov coming home in 41.31, but Cal had too much sprint firepower.
Please edit. Minakov ranks second in the 200 fly to Kharun, not Marchand.