Right before 7:00 a.m. this morning, the Cal men's swim team began to trickle into their locker room on by Spieker Pool.

While their female counterparts were in the water preparing for the NCAA Championships in a couple weeks, the guys packed their bags and loaded onto a bus to catch a plane headed to Long Beach, California.

By 7:20, the Bears were en route down Bancroft Way and will not return until Sunday night - hopefully with a Pac-10 Championship in hand.

The Bear Blog, including photographer James Besser, was there with the team all morning, so here are those pictures.