By Herb Benenson
When Melanie Klaren braced herself for the start of the 100-yard backstroke at AT&T Winter Nationals last December, she could be forgiven if she felt she was at practice in Berkeley rather that in the final of a major championship being held in Knoxville, Tenn.
After all, of the eight women in the race, five were Golden Bears, and members of the Cal men’s swim team on hand at the meet were shouting “Cal Bear Backstroke” over and over from the pool deck.
One night later, the scene repeated itself. Five Cal swimmers had reached the final of the 200 back and the chant began again. In both races, the Bears claimed five of the first six positions.
“That was the first moment that I really realized what a special thing we have here,” Klaren said.
With the likes of Missy Franklin, Elizabeth Pelton and Rachel Bootsma – all either Olympic or world champions – someone like Klaren could easily get lost in the crowd among an extraordinary group of backstrokers. But nothing could be further from the truth for the senior from Laguna Niguel.
Klaren, after all, served as a team co-captain of the squad last year, and she is reprising the role for her last collegiate season this season. That type of appreciation doesn’t come without the full respect of coaches and teammates.
Klaren has also begun to gain recognition beyond her Cal environment and believes her recent rise began a year earlier at the U.S. National Championships back in the summer of 2013 when she placed ninth in the 200 back and 10th in the 100 back.
She kept up the pace at Winter Nationals, and then really stamped her mark at the NCAA Championships last spring when she took sixth in both backstroke events. It marked the first time she had reached the NCAA final in any individual event – and she did it twice in the span of two days.
“I think a lot of it was mental for me – staying strong and being tough,” Klaren said. “That was something I’ve learned over the past two years, and it came through for me this past year.”
Klaren kept up the momentum at the 2014 U.S. Nationals that featured the best swimmers in the country and served as the qualifying races for three major USA teams – the 2015 World Championships, Pan American Games and World University Games. Up until that point, Klaren had never been on a U.S. senior national team and set a goal to earn a place on one of the squads.
“I didn’t want NCAA’s (this coming spring) to be my last meet ever,” Klaren said. “I really wanted to see what I could do on the international stage and see if I could be a player for the U.S. in the backstroke along with my teammates here at Cal.”
Klaren’s best chance came in the 200-meter backstroke, and she came through with a time of 2:11.58, good for fourth place and just one one-hundredth of a second out of third. The result meant Klaren had reached her objective and would represent the United States internationally. She found out in November that it would be at the World University Games to be contested in South Korea.
“When I touched the wall and saw that I was fourth, I was completely shocked,” Klaren recalled.
Those who have followed Klaren’s career path, though, should not have been caught off guard by her success. Not only is she seen as a leader in the water and as a team captain, but in the classroom, as well. Her GPA has risen each year during her Cal career, just as her times have gone down. Last year, the history major was one of 12 Golden Bears swimmers named a Scholar All-American, which requires a GPA of at least 3.5.
“There is a higher expectation here than at most universities, and classes are really hard,” Klaren said. “I think that everyone has embraced the challenge. It’s almost become a competitive game. How high can I get my GPA? How much time can I drop in the pool? That’s kind of what keeps the whole team going.”
With graduation in May on the horizon, Klaren said she’s considering continuing to swim past the World University Games and see how far she can go in the sport.
“Heading into 2016, I’m not sure that making an Olympic team is the goal, but I definitely want to see if I can be a player on the national team,” Klaren said. “I’ve gotten better every year I’ve been here at Cal, and it just seems like a silly time to stop if I’m still getting better. I’m still discussing the logistics of it, but it’s definitely something that I want to do.”
The preceding feature originally appeared in the program for the 117th Big Game between Cal and Stanford on Nov. 22, 2014.
