Abbey Weitzeil Sets Pool Record as Cal Swimming Sweeps Arizona

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Sophomore Alicia Wilson won three events and Abbey Weitzeil broke the Cal dual-meet and pool record for the 100-yard freestyle, as Cal swimming & diving team rolled past Arizona, 196-101, Friday at Spieker Aquatics Center, in the women’s meet. The Golden Bears won the men’s meet as well.

Cal returns to action on Saturday for its final home appearance of the season when the Bears host Arizona State. The meet will serve as the last home competition for six Cal seniors – Keaton Blovad, Alexa Buckley, Aislinn Light, Maddie Murphy, Courtney Mykkanen and Weitzeil – with introductions beginning at 11:50 a.m. and racing getting underway at 12 noon.

On Friday, Wilson picked up Cal swimming’s first individual event win of the afternoon, claiming first place in the 200 free in 1:48.20 to lead a 1-2-3 Bear finish. She later earned a victory in the 200 backstroke (1:56.85), coming back from a nearly one-second deficit over the final 50 yards to edge Arizona’s Axana Merckx by 0.20 seconds. Wilson then went wire-to-wire in her specialty, the 200 individual medley, touching the wall in 1:59.48.

“I feel like I’m swimming a lot better than I did last year,” said Wilson, who won a gold medal in the 200-meter IM at the World University Games over the summer. “I think coming back from our trip to Hawaii, we had so much fun and got in a lot of good work. It was probably the most fun I’ve had at a dual meet, and I think that was what carried me through.”

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Weitzeil blazed to a time of 47.79 in the 100 free to break her own pool record of 48.06 from last season. That time also stood as the Cal dual-meet mark, a record she shared with Natalie Coughlin from a 2003 race. Several events after her 100 free, Weitzeil showed off her versatility by winning the 100 butterfly in 53.50.

Other individual victors for the Bears included Ema Rajic (100 breast, 1:02.72), Rachel Klinker (200 fly, 1:59.91), Eloise Riley (50 free, 23.32) and Ali Harrison (200 breast, 2:18.79), Junior Briana Thai prevailed on both springboards, taking the 1-meter with a score of 243.00 and the 3-meter with a 394.60 total.

In addition, the Bears opened and closed the meet with relay wins. Isabel Ivey, Harrison, Sarah Darcel and Weitzeil took the 200 medley relay in 1:39.88, while Robin Neumann, Ayla Spitz, Murphy and Weitzeil won the 200 free relay in 1:30.88.

In the men’s meet, Four Bears won two individual events apiece to lead California swimming and diving to a well-balanced 166-123 dual meet victory over Pac-12 Conference foe Arizona at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Friday afternoon.

 Zheng Wen Quah (100 back, 100 free), Hugo Gonzalez (100 breast, 200 back), Trenton Julian (200 fly, 200 breast) and Ryan Hoffer (50 free, 100 fly) recorded eight of Cal’s nine wins in the individual events while Daniel Carr added the ninth in the 200 free (1:36.78).

No. 2 (CSCAA) Cal won 10 of the 14 total events over the 10th-ranked Wildcats as it captured its eighth straight dual meet victory dating back to Oct. 3, 2018. Having already clinched the meet victory, Cal raced the final two events of the day – 200 IM and 200 free relay – as exhibitions.

Quah finished the 100 back in 46.55 and the 100 free in 43.37. Gonzalez earned his wins in the 100 breast and 200 back in 54.55 and 1:44.37, respectively. Julian claimed the 200 fly in 1:44.59 and the 200 breast in 1:59.94. Hoffer’s 50 free victory came in 19:43 before he later won the 100 fly in 47:09.

Carr, Karl Arvidsson, Pawel Sendyk and Quah teamed up for a 1:25.57 victory in the 200 medley relay to open the meet. Other strong performers included Michael Jensen, who tallied two runner-up finishes in the 200 free (1:36.79) and the 50 free (19.97).

On the diving boards, Connor Callahan earned Cal eight total points with a pair of second-place dives in the 3-meter (318.90) and the 1-meter (295.50)

— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Cal Swimming. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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