No. 4 Bears Start 2026 At No. 18 USC

MSWIM1/14/2026 3:01 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Set For First True Road Dual

The No. 4 California males’s swimming & diving staff opens up the second half of its 2025-2026 season on the highway Friday dealing with No. 18 USC in Los Angeles at 1 p.m. PT on B1G+.
The Trojans presently maintain a 3-3 report in duals and are coming off a pair of wins final week over UC San Diego and UNLV.

MID-SEASON DOMINANCE: The Golden Bears capped off their fall season in early December with a robust displaying on the Minnesota Invitational. Cal completed first out of 5 groups within the mid-season meet and gained 16 of the 18 A finals to go along with 36 podium finishes. Sophomore Yamato Okadome was a star for the Bears successful 5 occasions together with the 100-yard breaststroke during which he posted the second-fastest time in Cal historical past and third-fastest time within the NCAA this yr at 50.48. He touched the wall at 1:50.04 to win the 200 breast, which is each the fourth-fastest time in program historical past and the nation this season.

ODE TO OKADOME: Okadome is following up on a stellar freshman season with a robust encore as a sophomore, having registered 4 nationwide top-10 occasions and setting a pair of pool data at Spieker Aquatics Complex. In addition to clocking the third-fastest 100 breast (50.48) and fourth-fastest 200 breast (1:50.04) occasions within the NCAA this yr on the Minnesota Invitational, the 2025 ACC Freshman of the Year posted a 50.89 within the 100 breast and a 1:51.66 within the 200 breast within the staff’s double-dual with Stanford and Arizona State to set new requirements at Spieker.

RIGHT ON, RYAN: The Bears have one other freshman of the yr candidate in Ryan Erisman, who made a right away affect on this system when he set the varsity report within the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 8:43.48 throughout a tri-meet in opposition to Stanford and Arizona State. That’s the fourth-best mark within the nation this season within the occasion.

PERPETUAL EXCELLENCE: The Bears positioned second ultimately yr’s NCAA Championships, marking a staggering fifteenth consecutive season they’ve completed both first or second nationally. Cal has gained six nationwide titles throughout that span.

REIGNING CONFERENCE KINGS

In its first season as a member of the ACC, Cal showcased its dominance all through the 2024-25 season. The Bears gained their first-ever ACC title in a wire-to-wire end, which included six occasion crowns on the 2025 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships. Cal had 9 student-athletes obtain All-ACC honors in a minimum of one occasion whereas in whole the Bears completed among the many prime three in 12 completely different occasions. Cal additionally swept the convention’s swimming awards – Lucas Henveaux and Yamato Okadome had been tabbed the ACC Swimmer of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively, whereas David Durden walked away with ACC Coach of the Year honor.

NEW BEARS IN TOWN

The Bears welcomed the fifth-ranked recruiting class of 2025, based on SwimSwam, that includes 14 freshmen. Ryan Erisman led the pack because the No. 16-ranked recruit, adopted by No. 19 Kenny Barnicle and a trio of standout worldwide swimmers, which incorporates Casper Pugaard, Jack Brown and Martin Wrede. Irish swimmer Nathan Wiffen, a two-time finalist on the European Aquatic Championships over the summer time and the dual brother of Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen, has additionally joined the Bears for the 2025-26 season.

 

U.S NATIONAL TEAM

Seven present and former Bears had been named to the 2025-2026 U.S National Team roster, introduced by USA Swimming. The roster contains Jack Alexy, Ryan Erisman, Gabriel Jett, Keaton Jones, Trenton Julian, Destin Lasco and Dare Rose.

STAY POSTED

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