Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott
BERKELEY – The Southern California Trojans swimming and diving teams are among the best in the nation, but they were no match for hosts California-Berkeley today, as the Golden Bears won nearly all of the events today at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.
The Cal women beat USC 197.5-102.5, winning all but two events. Several of the wins by Cal were done in some of their fastest unshaved times of the season, boding well not only for next week’s big meet against Stanford, but the championships phase of the season.
Rachel Bootsma, who is looking to regain the NCAA crown she won in the 100 back in 2013, posted her fastest in-season swim this season with a 53.76. Notably, it’s right on the time she swam this time last year in the dual meet against UCLA. Bootsma had a subpar NCAA championships last March, but at the very least appears to be swimming just as well now as she did last year. Her fastest 100 back of the day, however, came in the leadoff of the 400 medley relay, where she posted a 53.73. That relay won with a 3:38.20, which is just a few tenths faster than Bay Area rival Stanford swam at the same time in Palo Alto today. Bootsma was also part of the winning 400 free relay that posted a 3:23.02.
Missy Franklin did not report for relay duty today, swimming in just two individual events. She won the 200 free in 1:45.67, just off her fastest in-season 200 free time of 1:45.46 from last year’s meet against Stanford. That was two seconds better than Elizabeth Pelton, who was second with a 1:47.67. Franklin and Pelton returned in the 200 back, where Franklin took control at the 100 with a 56.74 split. Pelton, however, came roaring back in the final 50 with a 28.42 to win by a fingernail over Franklin, 1:54.62 to 1:54.72. Though Franklin is likely to swim the 100 free at her final NCAA championships, the 200 back featuring Franklin and Pelton – as well as a host of other worthy title contenders – would be an epic final.
Pelton was one of four Golden Bears to win two individual events today. Pelton’s other win came in the 200 IM with a 1:58.84, and she needed a 27.39 on freestyle to overtake Li, who led for the first three strokes. Marina Garcia, who hasn’t shown much this season but will need to be on target for Cal at the NCAAs, especially in the medley relays, won both breaststrokes today. She beat USC’s Andrea Kropp in both of them, barely winning the 100 breast, 1:02.63 to 1:03.47, and dominating in the 200 breast with a 2:14.73 to Kropp’s 2:17.41.
Cierra Runge continues to excel in her freshman year, giving Cal a big boost in the distance freestyles with a win in the 500 and 1000 distances today. Her 9:51.36 in the 1000 is her fastest of the season, while her 4:47.83 in winning the 500 falls well off the 4:34.81 she swam at the Georgia Invite for the second-fastest time in the country among college swimmers.
Though she didn’t give Cal the win in the 100 fly, Osman was able to win both sprint freestyles. Her 22.57 in the 50 free is her fastest in-season swim, but she didn’t have enough in the tank to break 50 seconds in the 100 free, posting a 50.05 for the victory. Cal posted a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 100 free, with Rachael Acker (50.43), Camille Cheng (51.24) and Caroline Piehl (51.41) giving Cal the sweep. Piehl’s time did not count for points, as a school is allowed to use only three swims per event for scoring purposes.
Southern California’s two swimming wins today came in the butterfly events. Reigning USA Swimming long course champion Kendyl Stewart ran down Cal’s Farida Osman in the final strokes, winning with a 53.23 to Osman’s 53.52. Jasmine Tosky, who could show up in the NCAA final of the 200 fly in March, led from the start and overcome a final push by Cal’s Celina Li. Tosky’s 1:58.28 beat Li’s 1:58.53. Noemie Thomas had the best final 50 yards of the race, splitting a 29.76 to place third with a 1:59.28.
Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott
California’s diving was no match for USC senior Haley Ishimatsu. The reigning platform NCAA champion was dominant today on the springboards, winning the 1-meter with a score of 306.68 – 31 points ahead of the competition – and posted a 335.63 to lead a USC 1-2-3 sweep in the 3-meter event.
California vs. USC Women’s Dual Meet – Results