California vs. USC
Date: Friday, Jan. 27
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Berkeley
Site: Spieker Aquatics Complex

California vs. UCLA
Date: Saturday, Jan. 28 
Time: 12 noon
Location: Berkeley
Site: Spieker Aquatics Complex

The Golden Bears hit the homestretch for the dual meet portion of the season this week, hosting USC at 2 p.m. Friday and UCLA at 12 noon Saturday. Admission to both days of competition at Spieker Aquatics Complex is free.

Cal is coming off a pair of convincing victories after racing past Arizona (181-119) and Arizona State (181-111) last weekend on the road. The Bears close out the regular season with a home meet vs. Stanford Feb. 11, then move on to the Pac-12 Championships in late February and the NCAA meet in Indianapolis March 15-18.

To date, Cal owns 15 swims that have reached the NCAA "A" qualifying standard - second-most in the country - including all five relays, and has 19 swims that rank among the nation's top 16. In addition, sophomore diver Phoebe LaMay has broken school records on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards.

Last year, Cal dropped a 153-147 decision to USC in a meet that came down to the final relay, while the Bears rebounded the following day to defeat UCLA, 185-114.

• LAST TIME OUT: CAL EARNS DESERT SWEEP
Cal opened 2017 with a pair of dual-meet victories in Arizona, defeating the Wildcats, 181-119, then downing Arizona State, 181-111, Jan. 20-21. The Bears won 11 of 16 events at UA, with freshman Abbey Weitzeil (50 and 100 free), sophomore Amy Bilquist (100 and 200 back) and junior Noemie Thomas (100 and 200 fly) claiming two events apiece. Cal was more dominant at ASU with 14 victories in 16 events. Bilquist (100 and 200 free), sophomore Kathleen Baker (100 and 200 back), sophomore Katie McLaughlin (200 fly, 500 free) and sophomore Phoebe LaMay (1m and 3m diving) each had two wins, with LaMay's score of 317.63 on the 1-meter board setting a school record.

• LaMAY PAC-12 DIVER OF THE MONTH
Sophomore Phoebe LaMay, who has set a pair of school records already this year, was named the Pac-12 Diver of the Month for November. LaMay won the 1-meter board competition in Cal's dual meet against Texas Nov. 11, and her score of 314.18 snapped her own Golden Bear mark of 313.25 reached during her freshman season (since broken). At the Texas Diving Invitational two weeks later, LaMay totaled 335.80 on 3-meter, edging the previous record of 334.15 by Anne Kastler in 2014. LaMay is Cal's third Pac-12 Diver of the Month, and first since Kastler earned the honor in January 2014.

• BEARS EARN NEWMARK GPA AWARD
In October, the Bears learned they had won the Newmark Award for having the highest GPA among all 30 of Cal's intercollegiate athletic teams for the 2015-16 academic year. When combined for the 24 women on the squad, the figure came to an impressive 3.376. The Bears have also been named a CSCAA Scholar All-America team for their academic performance during the fall 2016 semester.

• BEARS ON TV
Cal will make a pair of appearances on the Pac-12 Network this season - vs. Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 11 and all four days of the Pac-12 Championships Feb. 22-25.

• 8 IN A ROW AMONG NCAA TOP 3
Cal has finished among the top three at the NCAA Championships eight years in a row - the longest current streak in the country. Included in the run are four national titles, coming in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015. The Bears were also second in 2013 and third in 2010, 2014 and 2016. Last year, Rachel Bootsma completed her collegiate career as a three-time champion in the 100-yard backstroke, while the foursome of Farida Osman, Kristen Vredeveld, Valerie Hull and Amy Bilquist - all returnees for this season - captured the 200 free relay title.

• RIO RECAP: 8 MEDALS AT THE OLYMPICS
A total of 10 current and former Bears qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and together they came home with an impressive eight medals. Two current members of the squad - sophomore Kathleen Baker and freshman Abbey Weitzeil - certainly made their marks. Baker grabbed a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke - the fourth consecutive Olympics a Cal swimmer has medaled in the event - and she took gold as part of the U.S. 400 medley relay. Weitzeil also gained her medals in relays with silver in the 400 free relay and gold for her role with the medley relay. Two other current Bears - senior Farida Osman (Egypt, 50 free, 100 fly) and junior Noemie Thomas (Canada, 100 fly, 400 medley relay) - also donned their country's colors in Rio. Alum Dana Vollmer earned gold in the medley relay, silver in the 400 free relay and bronze in the 100 fly, while Missy Franklin took home gold in the 800 free relay. The others who competed were: Stephanie Au (Hong Kong), Lauren Boyle (New Zealand), Yvette Kong (Hong Kong) and Camille Cheng (Hong Kong).

• BEARS SECOND WITH 15 'A' SWIMS 
Cal ranks second nationally with 15 NCAA "A" qualifying swims and is one of only four schools in the country to have all five of its relays achieve "A" status. Sophomore Amy Bilquist leads the country in the 100 back (50.85), while sophomore Kathleen Baker ranks first in the 200 back (1:49.83) and junior Noemie Thomas tops the charts in the 100 fly (50.67). In addition, Cal's 200 free relay of Abbey Weitzeil, Bilquist, Valerie Hull and Farida Osman has gone a nation's best 1:26.31, while Bilquist, Marina Garcia, Thomas and Weitzeil have covered the 400 medley relay in 3:28.33 to pace the NCAA.

• 19 SWIMS AMONG NCAA TOP 16
Cal has 19 individual swims that currently rank among the top 16 nationally. The Bears are strongest in the 100 fly where junior Noemie Thomas leads the country at 50.67, while senior Farida Osman fourth (51.20), sophomore Kathleen Baker 10th (51.85) and freshman Maddie Murphy 12th (52.01). Cal also has three ranked in the 50 free - No. 2 freshman Abbey Weitzeil (21.64); No. 10 Osman (21.96); and No. 16 sophomore Amy Bilquist (22.18). Baker (1:49.83) and Bilquist (1:50.06) are first and second, respectively, in the 200 back.

• LEGENDS AQUATIC CENTER OPENS
The Legends Aquatic Center, which features a pool with a bulkhead and diving tower, locker rooms and a team room, opened in mid-October. The facility, which was completely funded by private donations, will primarily host training sessions, giving Cal Aquatics student-athletes more flexibility with class scheduling and opening up additional time for campus use at Spieker Aquatics Complex. 

• FODDER FOR FEATURES
Kathleen Baker and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America - Kathleen Baker has battled the effects of Crohn's disease since she was first diagnosed at age 12. She went public with her story just before the Olympics, where she went on to win a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke and a gold medal on the 400-meter medley relay. Baker now wants to use her status to help others with Crohn's know that that can succeed and has been working with the CCFA, including an hour-long Twitter chat during the foundation's annual Awareness Week Dec. 7 that generated more than 4.4 million impressions.

Ocean Swimming - Freshman Chenoa Devine is an accomplished ocean swimmer and finished 11th in the 10K at the 2016 Open Water World Junior Championships in Hoorn, the Netherlands, this past summer.

Cal Connections - Freshmen Courtney Mykkanen, Maddie Murphy and Aislinn Light each bring a long legacy to Berkeley with family connections to the University that in one case goes back nearly a century. Mykkanen's father, John, won a silver medal in the 400-meter free at the 1984 Olympics, while her great grandfather, Harmer Davis, earned a degree in civil engineering from Cal in 1928 and served as a professor of civil engineering for 43 years. For Murphy, both parents, as well as 32 aunts, uncles and cousins have graduated from Cal. Her father, Matthew Murphy, was a two-time NCAA champion on the men's water polo team while a Golden Bear. Light's older brother, Austin '12, was a Cal men's basketball team manager and her older sister, Audrey, is a current student.