Cindy Tran doesn't have to look very far to find competition in the 100 backstroke.

The Cal junior is the two-time defending NCAA champion in the event. As of now, the top candidates to deny her a three-peat are practicing in the same pool every day.

Tran has the best time in the nation this year in the 100 back with a mark of 50.42. The two next best times belong to her teammates.

Freshmen Rachel Bootsma and Elizabeth Pelton rank second and third, respectively. Bootsma, a 2012 Gold Medalist in the 400 medley relay, is No. 2 at 50.54. Pelton has the third-best time with a 51.26.

"Even without them here, I had to push myself every single day," Tran said. "They're pushing me to be even better."

The internal competition is a direct result of Cal establishing itself as the premier women's swimming program in the country. The Bears have won three of the past four NCAA titles and are producing Olympians on a regular basis. Senior Caitlin Leverenz won the bronze medal in the 200 individual medley at the London Games last summer.

"Naturally the expectations with everything we've done are going to be heightened," Tran said. "It's naturally getting more competitive now, and our competition is not just against other schools. It's within our own team. It's challenging, but we're not afraid of the competition and the challenge. The girls on the team have embraced it. It's helped us grow."

The Bears split their first dual meets of the Pac-12 season against Arizona and Arizona State last weekend. This weekend, No. 7 Cal welcomes No. 1 USC to Spieker Aquatics Complex on Friday and No. 12 UCLA on Saturday.

Leverenz, the 2012 Honda Sports Award for Swimming after winning two individual and two relay titles at the NCAA championships, is the lone senior on this year's team. Swimmers like Pelton and Bootsma lead an impressive collection of younger talent that the Bears hope can continue to keep the program at the top of college swimming.

"Winning is of course the outcome you want, but you have to try to focus on getting better and the things you can control," Tran said. "Swimming is an individual sport but it's hard to swim by yourself," Tran said. "The support and help you give to each other is so important. That's the great things about college swimming. It's a dynamic you're never going to find by going pro or in a club."

Cal's sports programs continue to do terrific work in the classroom. At today's Intercollegiate Athletics staff meeting, athletic director Sandy Barbour announced the top three men's and women's programs during the fall semester in terms of grade point average, and it included a record-setting performance.

The women's golf team compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.466, which is the highest ever for any athletic team during one semester at Cal. The women's volleyball team had the second-best among women's programs at 3.297 while the women's tennis team was third at 3.212.

The men's tennis team had the best team GPA among all of Cal's men's programs with a 3.310. Men's golf was second at 3.163 and the men's water polo program was third with a mark of 3.116.

"The work that is put into it, you better take pride in it," Barbour said. "You've not only put in an incredible amount of work and effort and skill, but you've achieved it."

There is an internal competition among Cal's sports teams when it comes to academic performance. Since different programs can't compete against each other in the playing arena, they use the classroom setting to compare themselves against their peers on campus.

"We're incredibly competitive about what we do from an athletic results standpoint," Barbour said. "But we're actually more competitive in the classroom because it's apples to apples. They're sitting in the same classrooms. There's really a wonderful competitive drive and competition over performance in the classroom. Given the skills and the aspirations of the young people we recruit and the kind of coaches that are naturally attracted here, I think it's certainly something we are proud of and something we honor and celebrate."

This edition of This Week in Cal Athletics takes a look at the women's swimming and diving team's upcoming matches against USC and UCLA, as well as sophomore co-captain Caroline Piehl.

There will be a flurry of activity at the Hellman Tennis Complex this weekend as Cal's men's and women's tennis teams host the ITA Kickoff Weekend.

The annual tournament is held at 15 sites across the country, with four schools competing at each venue. The winner of the two-day event at each site advances to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

The Bears are one of the host sites and seeded first on both the men's and women's side. The men's event goes first, with the No. 14 Bears hosting No. 38 Boise State Friday at 10 a.m. The following match will pit No. 20 Michigan against No. 35 Santa Clara. The championship and consolation matches will be played Saturday.

Then it will be the women's turn, with the No. 7 Bears taking on No. 59 Fresno State at 10 a.m. on Sunday. In the second match, No. 41 Saint Mary's will play No. 51 UNLV. The losers will meet in the consolation match Monday morning at 10 a.m. with the championship match to follow.

The women's draw will have some familiar faces, as both Fresno State and Saint Mary's took part in the Cal Winter Invitational last weekend. The Bears swept that competition, as sophomore Zsofi Susanyi won the singles title and teamed up with freshman Klara Fabikova to take the doubles event.

Susanyi enters the weekend as the No. 7 singles player in the country. Teammate Anett Schutting is ranked No. 9, giving the Bears two of the top-10 singles players nationally. Susanyi advanced to the NCAA semifinals last season as a freshman, and both her and Schutting made it to the semifinals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in New York during the fall season.

Cal has two other ranked singles players - freshman Lynn Chi at No. 109 and senior Annie Goransson at No. 110. But the Bears also lost 2011 NCAA singles champion Jana Juricova to graduation.

"Zsofi and Anett had a great fall. We have a strong returning group," Cal coach Amanda Augustus said. "We have two really good freshmen this year. They've really stepped up. I think we're going to have a deep team."

Although Schutting played No. 1 singles last weekend at the Cal Winter Invitational, Susanyi figures to assume that role for most of the season, including this weekend.

"Anett played a bit of No. 1 last weekend, but Zsofi will play No. 1 this weekend," Augustus said. "Zsofi has the experience. She played No. 1 last year for a bit when Jana was out hurt. She understands playing that position. She learned a lot from Jana. She's ready for it."

Augustus said while it looks like Susanyi and Schutting are set as the top two players, it's Nos. 3-6 that are still fluid. Doubles is still competitive too, and with promising freshmen like Chi and Fabikova in the mix, it may take a while to sort out the Bears' lineup.

"We may try a couple of different lineups," Augustus said. "This is the time of year to figure out what our strongest lineup is."

This week's edition takes a look at the rugby team's return to Witter Field and its match this weekend against Stanford.

The women's tennis team is hosting the Cal Winter Invitational this weekend at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Bears welcome No. 42 Saint Mary's, No. 60 Fresno State and Santa Clara to town for the three-day tournament. The event kicked off this morning and goes all day for the next three days. Action begins at 10 a.m. each day.

Today, two Olympic Gold Medalists from Cal are on a plane headed for Afghanistan, where they will take part in the "Olympic Heroes Tour" organized by Armed Forces Entertainment. Water polo player Heather Petri and rower Erin Cafaro are joining wrestler Rulon Gardner and rower Susan Francia to visit American troops on a handful of bases to show off their gold medals, shake hands and take a lot of pictures.

Cafaro says she was told it is a way for the troops to thank them. But she says it's actually the other way around.

"They said they want to say thank you to us, but we're going to say thank you to them for putting their lives on the line and serving our country," Cafaro said.

Cafaro won gold in the Women's 8+ event in both 2008 and 2012 while Petri,a four-time Olympian, helped the American win gold in London.

Cafaro and Petri, who have each gotten involved in other philanthropic causes since becoming Olympians, both actively sought out the trip to Afghanistan. The tour will last 10 days.

"I'm really excited I'm getting to go have this experience," Petri said. "I don't think a lot of us understand their lives. They afford us the right to compete. It's a way to go over there and say thank you."

In the days leading up to her departure, Petri had a message on her Facebook page asking people to e-mail her thank-you letters to distribute to the troops. Some of those who contributed letters are the members of Cal's current women's water polo team.

Petri has been busy since returning from London. In October, she took part in a swim across the San Francisco Bay to benefit cancer research. Then in November she visited underprivileged communities in Rwanda and Uganda to work with "Right To Play," an organization that attempts to empower and educate children facing adversity through play.

After her swim in the Bay, Petri was afforded the opportunity to visit the hospital the raised funds would actually go to, meeting patients and doctors and learning how the money would be used.

In Uganda, she visited refugee camps on the border of Congo where she said "thousands of kids were trying to learn and play and be kids."

"You hear about these things, but actually seeing them in person blew me away," Petri said. "To hear their testimonials was incredible."

Cafaro, along with some of her boat mates, visited the Walter Reed Hospital after winning gold in 2008. It's those kind of experiences that motivate her to pursue the experience she is currently undertaking.

"That was kind of my first validation that what I was doing isn't just selfish," Cafaro said. "It was a moment that was bigger than me. So to go over and thank them for serving our country, I'm so pumped and ready to go."

Cafaro also has recently gotten involved with "Transition Possible," a San Antonio-based organization that works with wounded veterans and adaptive athletes to provide the means for them to continue to be involved with athletics and lead productive lives. After returning from Afghanistan, Cafaro is immediately flying to San Antonio to for an event.

"I think it can only make me a better and more understanding person," Cafaro said. "I hope to make it a part of me. Everybody has their philanthropic causes. This is another way for me to serve my country."

The women's gymnastics team is getting ready to open the 2013 season with a home meet Sunday against Arizona, Auburn and Kentucky. It will be the first meet under new coach Justin Howell. The meet begins at 2 p.m. and will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks on a tape-delay basis. It will air next Wednesday (Jan. 9) at 5 p.m.

Here' s a look at Cal's event management staff preparing for the meet at Haas Pavilion.