No. 5 Cal Heads To NCAA Championships

WSWIM3/16/2026 1:14 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Competition Begins Wednesday In Atlanta

The No. 5 California girls’s swimming & diving group is ready for the 2026 NCAA Championships this week on the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The four-day meet, which is being held on the identical website as this 12 months’s ACC Championships, begins Wednesday morning and wraps up Saturday night. Prelims will begin at 7 a.m. PT every day with the finals coming at 3 p.m. PT.
 
Last season the Golden Bears positioned eighth as a group, their greatest end since 2022, and produced 16 All-America occasions.
 
Meet Information
Wednesday, March 18 – Saturday, March 21
NCAA Championships
McAuley Aquatic Center | Atlanta, Georgia
Championship Central
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Results: Meet Mobile
 
Schedule of Events
Wednesday, March 18
1,650 Free, 200 Medley Relay, 800 Free Relay

Thursday, March 19

100 Fly, 400 IM, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 1M Diving, 200 Free Relay

Friday, March 20

100 Back, 200 Breast, 500 Free, 50 Free, 3M Diving, 400 Medley Relay

Saturday, March 21

200 IM, 100 Free, 200 Fly, 200 Back, Platform Diving, 400 Free Relay

Cal’s Qualifiers

The Bears will compete in all 5 relay occasions this week and have 14 particular person qualifiers, together with 5 swimmers who will compete in three completely different occasions.

 

Ava Chavez – 200 IM, 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle

Ella Cosgrove – 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle

Kathryn Hazle – 400 IM

Camille Henveaux – 500 freestyle

Abby Herscu – 200 breaststroke

Annie Jia – 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly

Alexa McDevitt – 400 IM

Mary-Ambre Moluh – 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 50 freestyle

Teagan O’Dell – 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 backstroke

Lilou Ressencourt – 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly

Elle Scott – 200 IM, 100 breaststroke

Silje Slyngstadli – 100 breaststroke

Claire Weinstein – 200 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle, 500 freestyle

Mia West – 200 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke

 

ACC Championships

Cal noticed its highest end on the ACC Championships in February, putting third with 1,027.5 factors – a 163.5 level enchancment from its fourth-place end in its ACC Championship debut final season. The week on the campus of Georgia Tech was highlighted by sophomore Mia West’s particular person championship within the 200-yard butterfly and three faculty data. West’s profitable time of 1:51.52 was the fourth quickest within the nation this season and No. 2 on Cal’s all-time record.

 

The Bears received the week off to a blistering begin, setting the varsity report within the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:33.29. Sophomore Mary-Ambre Moluh broke her personal faculty commonplace within the 100 backstroke (49.64) to position third and freshman Elle Scott additionally established a program benchmark within the 100 breaststroke, clocking 58.19 to position sixth.

 

The Bay > LA

Cal swept its two former convention foes down in Los Angeles on Jan. 16 and 17. The Bears defeated No. 11 USC 156-140 and UCLA 179-120 in a 24-hour interval, profitable 19 of the 32 occasions. Sophomore Mia West cracked two of this system’s top-10 lists with the eighth-fastest 100-yard backstroke time (50.78) and the fourth-fastest 200 freestyle time (1:41.74). On the diving aspect, Ariana Drake completed first within the one-meter occasion in opposition to the Trojans with the fourth-highest rating in program historical past at 289.50 and took second within the three meter at 292.20.

 

No Record Is Safe

In simply 4 meets throughout the common season the Bears recorded 14 top-10 occasions on Cal’s all-time record. All 14 had been recorded by underclassmen together with 4 by Claire Weinstein, three by Teagan O’Dell and two by Silje Slyngstadli, who’re all freshmen. West additionally collected 4. Slyngstadli got here the closest to breaking a program report, notching the second-fastest time in class historical past within the 100-yard breaststroke at 58.70.

 

Mid-Season Sweep

The Bears dominated their mid-season meet, the Minnesota Invitational, in early December, ending first out of six groups and having the first-place finisher in each single “A” last. In whole Cal received all 18 occasions and had 36 podium finishes. Freshman Claire Weinstein had a stellar weekend, profitable 5 occasions with six podium finishes. She posted the third-fastest time in Cal historical past in each the 1,650-yard freestyle (15:52.28) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:34.81).

 

Season-Opening W

Cal opened up the 2025-26 season with a first-place end at UC San Diego’s Triton Invitational, defeating the third-ranked Cardinal, host Tritons, Hawai’i and UC Santa Barbara. Cal received 11 of the 15 occasions and led all through the weekend, ending with 1,202 factors – 303.5 extra factors than second-place Stanford. Freshman Silje Slyngstadli received her first collegiate season began in stellar vogue, profitable each the 100-yard (1:00.01) and 200-yard breaststrokes (2:11.23) with occasions that mechanically certified her for the NCAA Championships. Freshman Claire Weinstein (4:37.14) etched her identify into Cal lore, recording the fifth-fastest time in program historical past within the 500-yard freestyle to win her first collegiate occasion. Freshman Teagan O’Dell received each the 400 IM (4:10.33) and the 200 backstroke (1:55.72), and the Bears received each relays on the weekend.

 

Returners

This season Cal returns a handful of distinction makers like sophomore Mar-Ambre Moluh, a 2024 Paris Olympian for Team France, who etched her identify into this system’s top-10 lists six completely different occasions as a freshman final 12 months together with the quickest 100 breaststroke time in Cal historical past at 49.68. Compatriot Lilou Ressencourt, a senior, additionally returns after a stellar 2025 through which she broke the highest 10 in each the 100 and 200 butterfly. Abby Herscu will compete in her senior season and lead the breaststroke group after qualifying for the A last on the 2025 NCAA Championships. She owns the third-best time by a Bear at 2:07.60.

 

New Faces

In addition to these acquainted faces, a robust group of newcomers have joined the roster, together with the highest recruiting class the game has ever seen. According to SwimSwam, Cal is bringing in three of the highest 5 and 5 of the highest 20 recruits within the nation headlined by US National Team members Teagan O’Dell and Claire Weinstein, who’re ranked second and third, respectively. O’Dell involves Berkeley with occasions that will already qualify for the NCAA A last within the 200 IM, 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle, and holds the highest occasions in her class in 4 completely different occasions. Weinstein is coming off of a silver-medal end on the 2024 Paris Olympics as the primary leg of the 800-freestyle relay group and has a various ability set being aggressive in freestyle races of all distances.

 

Fifth-ranked recruit Annie Jia joins with spectacular occasions within the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle, and Twelfth-ranked Elle Scott comes because the quickest 100 breaststroker within the class. Ella Cosgrove, who’s ranked 18th, exhibits promise within the 200 and 500 freestyle.

 

Coming in at No. 5

The Bears started the season with their highest preseason rating since 2019 at No. 5 within the CSCAA ballot.

 

Stay Posted

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