SWIMMING NEWS - With a group of eight seniors swimming their final races at Spieker Aquatics Complex, the Cal men’s swimming and diving team made sure to send its upperclassmen off on the right note as the Bears produced their second win in as many days with a 165-123 victory over Arizona.
Before jumping in to race, Cal honored a group that has been strong both in the water and in the classroom as Kyle Coan, Connor Hoppe, Matthew Josa, Ryan Kao, Justin Lynch, Nick Silverthorn, Zach Stevens and Matt Whittle were recognized for their contributions to the program.
And, once the senior festivities concluded, those same upperclassmen did their part to help Cal finish a sweep of the Arizona schools. Hoppe teamed with Daniel Carr, Pawel Sendyk and Ryan Hoffer to kick off the day with a win in the 200-yard medley relay as the quartet swam to a time of 1:27.29.
Sean Grieshop provided a look to the future in the 1,000 free as the freshman stopped the clock in a season-best 9:05.64 to add another win to Cal’s total. Not long after that result, a battle between Golden Bears broke out in the 200 free as junior Mike Thomas staved off challenges from Kao and Coan to win the 200 free in 1:36.39.
Freshman Bryce Mefford kept the momentum going, just beating teammate Andrew Seliskar to the wall to win the 100 backstroke in 48.74. Seniors again took center stage in the 100 breast as this time Hoppe touched in 54.51 to pick up a win and Whittle took second in 56.15.
Zheng Wen Quah earned Cal’s top result in the 200 butterfly with a second-place finish and Cal swimmers went 1-2 in the 50 free as Michael Jensen clocked a time of 19.47 to just beat Lynch to the wall. The Bears continued that dominance in the sprints after the first break of the day when Sendyk and Hoffer combined to tie for the win in the 100 free, each recording a time of 44.51 to get the victory.
Quah earned a spot in the winner’s circle with a time of 1:44.58 in the 200 back and Hoppe highlighted a senior-laden effort in the 200 breast with a winning time of 2:01.83. Silverthorn and Stevens each turned in strong performances in the race as well, finishing third and fourth, respectively. Josa won a Golden Bear duel in the 100 fly, racing to a time of 46.53 in the 100 fly and beating Lynch by just four-hundredths of a second.
