California Swimming And Diving Sweeps Arizona (With Photo Gallery)

California Swimming vs. Arizona

TUCSON – The California women’s swimming team won today’s dual meet over Arizona, but the Wildcats did not make it an easy task, challenging the Golden Bears in nearly every event and improving on many of their swims from yesterday’s meet against Stanford. On the men’s side, Cal had no trouble dispatching Arizona, winning that meet by 112 points.

California Swimming vs. Arizona (women)

The California women, currently tied with Georgia at the top of the CSCAA rankings, won the women’s meet 157-143 over 14th-ranked Arizona. Missy Franklin and Bonnie Brandon were the stars for their teams, as both won two events with times that are among the fastest posted around the country this weekend.

Franklin and Brandon, who raced against each other often as age-group swimmers in Colorado, reunited for a matchup in the 200 free. Brandon was slightly handicapped by having swum the backstroke leg on Arizona’s 400 medley relay about five minutes earlier, while the 200 free marked Franklin’s first race of the day. Franklin led wire-to-wire with a winning time of 1:46.62. Brandon hung back in fourth for the first half of the race then found a late surge to place second with a 1:48.05.

Franklin focused solely on freestyle today, winning the 100 free in 49.47 for the only swim under 50 seconds this afternoon. She rarely swims the 50 free, but put together a solid 22.93 to barely get touched out by teammate Farida Osman, who won with a 22.93.

Brandon’s two wins came in the 500 free and 200 back, the same events she won yesterday against Stanford. The 200 back was one of the most thrilling races of the day, with Cal’s Elizabeth Pelton – the 2013 NCAA champion – challenging Brandon throughout the race. As she did in the 200 free, Brandon found a second gear in the final 50 yards and outsplit Pelton, 28.77 to 28.90, to win with a 1:55.77 to Pelton’s 1:56.07. That’s three tenths faster than Brandon swam yesterday against Stanford, and the key was her final 50 yards. Pelton swam her race almost identically to the one she posted yesterday against Arizona State.

Brandon won the 500 free in 4:47.07, pulling away quickly from 400 free Pan Pacs medalist Cierra Runge of California quickly and improving on yesterday’s swim by five seconds. Runge was second in 4:51.05, two seconds faster than she swam yesterday against Arizona State.

Arizona made its intentions known in the first two events, as Tjasa Oder won the 1000 free in 9:53.28, toying with Runge through the first 500 yards then dropping the hammer for a seven-second win. Later, the Wildcats won the 400 medley relay with a 3:38.05 to Cal’s 3:39.74. A 1:00.88 breaststroke leg by Emma Schoettmer was the key for Arizona to win the relay.

Schoettmer was part of an impressive showing by Arizona’s breaststrokers today, as the Wildcats went 1-2-3 in both distances. Schoettmer won the 100 in 1:01.50, with Lauren Stoeckle (1:02.52) and Sara Borendame (1:02.70) giving Arizona big points. The three returned to make quick work of Cal in the 200 breast, as Schoettmer posted a 2:13.52 for the win. Stoeckle (2:15.34) and Borendame (2:15.78) rounded out the top three in the breast.

Cal responded with a 1-2-3 of its own in one of its strongest events, the 100 backstroke, and well as a sweep in the 100 fly. Even without Franklin or 2013 NCAA champion Rachel Bootsma, Cal was able to go 1-2-3 in the 100 back with Pelton winning in 55.02. Kelly Naze placed second with a 55.75 and Melanie Klaren rounded out the sub-56 swims with a 55.82 for third. Osman got her second win of the day with a 53.83 in the 100 fly, beating out the 53.88 by Bootsma and the 54.43 by Noemie Thomas.

Arizona kept the score close with a 2:00.17 from Elizabeth Pepper to win the 200 fly. The Arizona senior took control in the third 50 yards, splitting 31.18. Bootsma tried to rally, but settled for second with a 2:01.75, while Cal’s Jasmine Mau was third with a 2:02.26.

Cal needed a win in the 400 IM and the 200 free relay to secure the overall meet win. Pelton did her duty, winning the 400 IM with a 4:19.97. Naze broke away from a tight pack at 300 yards, splitting 37.57 on the second 50 of breaststroke to safely finish second with a 4:22.67. Oder took third for Arizona with a 4:25.30.

Cal and Arizona dove in even after 100 yards of the 200 freestyle relay, but Bootsma’s 22.97 gave Osman the advantage, and Osman put the team win in the bank with a 22.39 anchor leg to help Cal post a 1:31.03. Franklin’s 22.80 leadoff was matched by Taylor Schick’s 22.90, while Kaylin Bing of Cal and Paige Kremer of Arizona were both timed in 22.8 on the second leg.

In diving, Arizona’s Samantha Pickens won both boards handily, taking the 1-meter with 320.03 points and the 3-meter with 312.60 points.

California Swimming and Diving vs. Arizona (men)

California showed the Arizona Wildcats why they are the reigning NCAA champions, winning all but one swimming event and posting 1-2-3 sweeps in five of them. The men’s diving competition was highlighted by the rare breaking of a board during the 3-meter event.

Josh Prenot was one of the busiest swimmers in the men’s meet, winning three of the toughest events on the program. He dominated the 400 IM, winning by nearly eight seconds with a 3:50.53. Prenot looked to be in cruise control throughout the race, posting a time well off the 3:42.24 he swam last month at the Georgia Invite but still a quick unrested time. He was followed to the finish by teammates Adam Hinshaw, who was second with a 3:58.36, and Connor Green, who was third with a 3:58.45. Nick Thorne of Arizona nearly broke up the Cal sweep but settled for fourth place with a 3:58.69.

Prenot also won the 200 fly with a 1:47.65 over the 1:49.23 by teammate Dane Stassi, with Arizona’s Justin Wright preventing a Cal 1-2-3 finish with a 1:49.49 for third over the 1:49.86 by 2012 NCAA champion Will Hamilton of California. Prenot was also the winner of the 200 breast with a 1:56.69 over the 1:57.79 by teammate Chuck Katis.

The first 1-2-3 Cal sweep of the meet came in one of its best: the 100 backstroke. Led by reigning NCAA champion Ryan Murphy’s 47.77, Cal got big points from Jacob Pebley (second, 49.95) and Sven Campbell (third, 50.15). Murphy led another 1-2-3 finish, this time in the 100 freestyle. Murphy, who was part of Cal’s 400 free relay that placed second at NCAAs last March, posted a 43.98 to hold off teammate Tyler Messerschmidt (44.52) and Trent Williams (44.92). Fabio Giomondi officially posted the fourth-fastest time of the day with a 45.29, but rules allow on three swimmers per school to score in each event. It’s likely these four will step up for Cal in the 400 free relay at the NCAA championships.

The 200 backstroke is another dominant event for Cal, one that could find three Golden Bears in the NCAA championship final. Murphy, the reigning NCAA champion, did not race this event, and in his place, NCAA finalist Jacob Pebley won with a 1:46.90. Freshman Connor Green, a USA Swimming junior national team member in this event, was second with a 1:47.83, while Campbell placed third again with a 1:49.41. Thorne, once again, was denied third-place points with a 1:50.21 for fourth.

Long Gutierrez won the 500 free – the final Cal 1-2-3 sweep of the meet – with a 4:27.89, winning by five yards over Janardan Burns and his 4:30.64. Ryan Kao placed third with a 4:30.65, using a 25.68 final 50 yards (the fastest in the field) to try and overtake Burns at the finish.

Most of Cal’s other wins were accompanied by a Golden Bear placing second. That was the case in the 1000 free, where Gutierrez won with a 9:18.76 over Burns’ 9:20.47. Nick Hogsed of Arizona, who won the 1000 free yesterday in a bit of a surprise against Stanford with a 9:20.46, placed third today with a 9:21.54.

Trent Williams and Gutierrez posted the sole swims under 1:40 today in the 200 freestyle. Williams took the race out hard, splitting 46.68 at 100 yards. Gutierrez tried to reel him in, and if there were another 25 yards, he might have done it. Williams won the 200 free with a 1:36.80, while Gutierrez was second with a 1:37.61.

Cal freshman Justin Lynch, the 15-16 national age group record holder in the 100 long course butterfly, won the yards version with a 48.41 today. Kyle Gornay of Cal had a tough battle with Arizona’s Renny Richmond, but Gornay gave the Bears a 1-2 finish with a 49.28 to Richmond’s 49.57.

NCAA champion Kevin Cordes swam identical times in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes today to what he posted yesterday in his easy wins over Stanford, but those times weren’t good enough to take down Cal’s strong breaststroke squad. As mentioned earlier, Prenot and Katis went 1-2 in the 200 breast, where Cordes was third with a 1:59.37. Cordes and Katis both turned at 25.5 at the halfway point of the 100 breast, but Katis had the endurance to win with a 53.84 to Cordes’ 54.07. Look for these two to battle again in the NCAA final.

Arizona’s only win today came in the 50 free, where Brad Tandy won from lane one with a 19.95. That’s faster than the 20.11 he swam yesterday, and he needed to be faster to beat Cal’s Messerschmidt, who was second with a strong 20.05.

Cal took both men’s relays, but Arizona put up a fight to the very end in both races. Arizona led through the butterfly leg, but a 43.54 from Messerschmidt helped the reigning NCAA relay champion Golden Bears win, 3:13.36 to 3:13.60. Lynch was the key swimmer for Cal in the 200 free relay, putting up a 20.08 to give the Bears enough of a cushion to win with a 1:20.21 to Arizona’s 1:20.60.

The men’s 3-meter diving competition was interrupted when Cal’s Peter Cyr broke the diving board in half. Luckily, the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center has three 3-meter springboards, so the event was able to continue shortly thereafter. Arizona’s Rafael Quintero won the 3-meter by 77 points with a score of 415.88. He also had no problem winning the 1-meter event with 353.70 points.

Swimming World’s Jeff Commings was on deck for today’s meet, and captured some photos during the afternoon’s competition.

California Swimming and Diving vs. Arizona Photo Gallery


California Vs. Arizona Dual Meet – Results

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
RACHEL JORDAN
RACHEL JORDAN
9 years ago

Great Pictures!

1
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x