Bjorn Seeliger Brings Immense Speed and Versatility To Cal’s National Title Defense

Bjorn Seeliger at the 2022 NCAA Championships -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Bjorn Seeliger Returns His Immense Speed For Cal’s National Title Defense

By no means is Bjorn Seeliger the most well-known swimmer on the Cal men’s swimming roster. That title would likely belong to defending 400 IM national champion and NCAA-record holder Hugo Gonzalez, 200 backstroke national titlist Destin Lasco, longtime nationally-ranked breaststroker Reece Whitley or even the emerging Gabriel Jett, who won won the U.S. national title in the 200-meter butterfly in late July to set himself up for a run at international teams in the coming years. But for the purposes of college swimming, perhaps no swimmer is more vital to his team than Seeliger, a 22-year-old junior originally from Sodertalje, Sweden.

As Cal reclaimed the men’s national team title last March, Seeliger was present for many of the Golden Bears’ most significant moments. He swam the anchor leg for Cal’s 400 medley relay that clinched the overall win despite not swimming in the last heat, and he led off a runnerup effort in the 200 freestyle relay and a third-place performance in the 400 free relay. Handed the reigns for the opening backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay, Seeliger provided a split of 20.08 that remains the fastest in history.

While Seeliger has never won any individual NCAA titles, he is the second-fastest performer in history in both the 50 free (18.27, tied with Jordan Crooks) and 100 free (40.75), with legendary sprinter Caeleb Dressel as the only man faster in both events. As for the times recorded so far this season, Seeliger ranks third nationally behind the Tennessee duo of Crooks and Gui Caribe in both sprint events with times of 18.87 in the 50 free and 41.68 in the 100 free. In the 100 back, he sits third (45.23) behind Lasco and reigning NCAA champion Kacper Stokowski.

But it’s not midseason results that determine a championship, and head coach Dave Durden’s Cal squads have a knack for showing up with their best performances at the NCAA Championships every single year. It’s not a coincidence that the Bears have finished first or second every single year since 2010. And based on his performances from last year and midseason, you have to believe that Seeliger will be very much in contention for an individual NCAA title or two, and he could challenge the 18-second barrier in the 50 free, a mark that only Dressel has ever reached from a flat start. If a swimmer is going to swim a 19-second 50 back, it’s likely to be Seeliger.

During this spring’s championship season, Seeliger will likely race only 50 and 100-yard races in freestyle and backstroke, but that relatively narrow range does not limit his impact. On the contrary, he is perfectly positioned to be downright elite for the Golden Bears in four relays and three individual events. Assuming each individual swimmer gets credit for one-fourth of a relay’s points, Seeliger accounted for 79.25 points at last year’s NCAAs while Leon Marchand, who swam the fastest time ever in the 200 IM and the second-best mark ever in the 200 breast, accounted for 84.5.

In other words, this sprint specialist was almost as valuable for his team as the man who quickly became known as the world’s top individual medley swimmer. Such is the nature of the sprint-heavy format of college racing, and it’s because of Seeliger’s speed that Cal hits the midseason mark in the favorite’s spot for another national crown.

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