Pac-12 Weekly Swim Preview: Cal Opens Conference Duals

Cal's Kathleen Baker. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

By Dan D’Addona.

The college swimming season takes its first big lap this week with plenty of strong matchups to get things rolling. Here is what to watch for in the Pac-12:

Meet of the Week: Cal at Oregon St.

The Cal Golden Bears will compete in their first traditional dual meet of the season this weekend, heading to Oregon State for the Pac-12 opener on Friday, Oct. 7. The Golden Bears are coming off of their Queen of the Pool meet with Cal-Poly. In that meet, each competitor swam five 100-yard races in each stroke and an IM. Cal’s Kathleen Baker was declared the queen.

It was a superb start for a promising sophomore season for Baker, who turned some heads in Rio, winning two medals at the Olympic Games. She was an NCAA qualifier as a freshman at Cal, but after a stunning Olympic performance, Baker will look to make the jump toward a national championship.

Meanwhile, Abbey Weitzeil will compete in her first dual meet for the Golden Bears. The freshman won two Olympic medals in Rio after winning the 50- and 100-meter freestyle events at the Olympic trials.

Baker and Weitzeil will be joined by key returners Celina Li, Amy Bilquist and Katie McLaughlin, who will look to keep Cal contending for another national championship.

That journey begins this week in Oregon.

Pacific vs. Cal men

Cal Olympian Ryan Murphy returns to NCAA competition this weekend with a dual meet against Pacific on Friday, Oct. 7. Murphy is coming off of a dominating performance in Rio where he swept the gold medals in the 100 and 200 backstroke events, following the astonishing tradition the U.S. has in those events. Cal finished second at the NCAA championships and Murphy will look to lead the Golden Bears toward a national championship this season.

Utah at Florida Gulf Coast Classic

Utah heads to the Florida Gulf Coast Classic following a 157-96 win over Oregon State to open the season last week. The FGC Classic will be a much bigger test for the Utes with several top teams from around the country set to compete. Jordan Anderson and Stina Colleau were double winners for the Utes in the opening win and will look to build on that momentum in Florida.

The Utah men are coming off of a victory in the BYU relay meet. The Utes won 11 of the 15 events in the combined men’s and women’s meet. Colten Montgomery, Liam O’Haimhirgin, Austin Phillips and Brendan Nguyen won the 500 freestyle relay.

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