Nov. 13, 2012

BERKELEY - Second-ranked California sends its swimmers to the Arena Invitational and its divers to the Wildcat Diving Invitational this week. The Golden Bears won the 2011 Arena Invitational en route to its latest NCAA championship. UC San Diego is the host of the meet, which runs from Thursday, Nov. 15, to Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif. Arizona's diving invitational runs from Friday through Sunday at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center in Tucson, Ariz.

The Arena Invitational will provide the Bears with the chance to familiarize its swimmers with competing on consecutive days at a meet with morning preliminaries and nightly finals - conditions the Bears will face at the Pac-12 Championships and NCAA Championships.

Please visit this link for live results from Long Beach. For more information on the Arena Invitational - including psych sheets, ticket details and more - please visit its official website by clicking here.

Last Time: Bears Beat Texas and Wisconsin
Cal won its last two dual meets, sweeping all 16 events against No. 23 Wisconsin on Nov. 3, one day after beating No. 7 Texas at Spieker Aquatics Complex. In the latter meet, four Golden Bears - Elizabeth Pelton, Caitlin Leverenz, Rachel Bootsma and Catherine Breed - won individual events and Cal won 10 of 16 events overall in a 172-128 victory over the Longhorns. Cal improved its record to 3-0 after the nonconference dual meet, while Texas (2-1) lost its first meet of the season.

The meet was the Bears' home opener and featured the return of Cal alumna and Texas head coach Carol (Felton) Capitani.

On a weekend filled with events lauding California's aquatic programs, the Bears continued their run of success when they won all 16 events against the Badgers in a 170-110 victory on a sunny afternoon at Spieker. The Bears improved their record to 4-0 after the nonconference dual meet, while Wisconsin fell to 3-4.

Bootsma won a total of four events, including the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley, while Cal's divers won both springboard events. Freshman Lauren Driscoll won her first event at home, capturing the 1000 freestyle in a time of 10:01.73.

As in the previous meet against Texas, the opponent's head coach was a familiar face, as Whitney Hite coached under Cal head coach Teri McKeever from 2004-06.

Last Year at the Arena Invitational
Strong performances, including victories by Liv Jensen and Caitlin Leverenz, on Nov. 19, 2011, propelled second-ranked California to the championship of the Arena Invitational at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool. Jensen, a senior, captured the 100-yard freestyle, while Leverenz, a junior, won the 200-yard breaststroke. The Golden Bears collected 989 points to defeat second place and No. 23 Arizona State (865.5 points), third-place and No. 7 Stanford (812) and the rest of the field at the end of the three-day meet.

This marked Leverenz's second individual victory at the Arena Invitational; she won the 200-yard individual medley on Nov. 17 and also took second in the 400 IM on Nov. 18.

Cal sat in second place behind then-leader Stanford to start the day. But the Bears capped their team victory by taking second place in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the last final of the night. Senior Sara Isakovic, Jensen, freshman Camille Cheng and senior Katherine Raatz swam an NCAA B qualifying time of 3:19.68 for the Bears.

Leverenz clocked an automatic NCAA qualifying and meet-record time of 2:09.23 to win the 200 breaststroke, with freshman Yvette Kong winning the consolation final and taking ninth overall with an NCAA B qualifying time of 2:13.91. Jensen posted an NCAA B qualifying time of 48.96 to take the 100 free; her victory pushed Cal past Stanford on the meet scoreboard and gave the Bears a lead they never relinquished. Fellow senior Sara Isakovic clocked an NCAA B cut of 1:57.79 in Cal's best finish - third place - in the 200-yard butterfly.

In the 200 backstroke, sophomore Cindy Tran collected an NCAA B time of 1:59.05 to take 18th place, though freshman Melanie Klaren placed seventh (1:59.32) to notch Cal's best finish.

Freshman Taylor Nanfria swam a time of 17:13.24 to take 18th in the 1650 freestyle.

Last Year at the Wildcat Diving Invitational
California's Kahley Rowell took the lead with her fourth dive of the day and clinched the platform championship at the 2011 Wildcat Diving Invitational with her last dive on Nov. 20 at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center at Arizona. The sophomore posted a final score of 244.40 to edge the second-place diver by 7.75 points.

Senior Molly Hayes placed 12th with a score of 184.95 and senior Alissa Barker scored 184.25 to place 13th on the platform for the Golden Bears, who wrapped up the three-day meet today.

Rowell's fourth dive was an inward three and a half somersault in the tuck position, resulting in a score of 54.40. Next, the sophomore's back two and a half somersault in the tuck position scored a 58.50 and clinched the win amidst a platform field of 39 divers.

Hayes was the only Bear to reach the championship final of the three-meter springboard, posting a score of 235.30 to finish eighth. Hayes posted a score of 248.25 to take fifth place in the consolation final of the one-meter springboard. No Bears reached the championship final.

Cal Repeats as NCAA Champion, Winning Third Title in Four Years
Contributions from every Golden Bear at the 2012 NCAA Championships - including 200-yard breaststroke champ Caitlin Leverenz and Kahley Rowell, only the second California diver to qualify for the national meet - gave Cal a repeat championship and its third national title in four years on March 17 at Auburn's James E. Martin Aquatic Center. Rowell's fifth-place finish on the platform clinched the title for the Bears before the last event of the meet - the 400-yard freestyle relay. Leverenz won the 200 breaststroke earlier in the night and later earned the NCAA Swimmer of the Meet award. Cal head coach Teri McKeever claimed the NCAA Coach of the Meet award.

The Bears scored 412.5 points, while second-place Georgia had 366, third-place USC tallied 325.5, fourth-place Stanford scored 318 and fifth-place Arizona collected 299.

Leverenz's 200-breaststroke win gave Cal a total of seven individual/relay titles at NCAAs, including her victory in the 200-yard individual medley, senior Liv Jensen's win in the 50 free, sophomore Cindy Tran's repeat title in the 100 backstroke and senior Sara Isakovic's championship in the 100 butterfly as well as Cal's 200- and 400-yard medley relay wins.

McKeever at Cal and Beyond
After completing her All-America swimming career at USC, Teri McKeever - the future U.S. Olympic and Cal head coach - worked as an assistant coach at her alma mater from 1984-87. She then coached the Fresno State women's team from 1988-1992 and coached the FSU men from 199-92. She compiled a 54-22 dual-meet record with the Bulldog women and a 19-18 record with the men. McKeever joined Cal as its head coach starting with the 1992-93 season.

Last summer, McKeever became the first woman to claim the role of U.S. Olympic swimming head coach, leading a U.S. team that included current Bears Caitlin Leverenz and Rachel Bootsma along with former Cal stars Natalie Coughlin, Dana Vollmer and Jessica Hardy. Her other protégés in London included current Bear Stephanie Au (Hong Kong) and alumnae Sara Isakovic (Slovenia), Hannah Wilson (Hong Kong) and Lauren Boyle (New Zealand).

McKeever became the first woman to coach in any capacity on a U.S. Olympic swimming team when she worked as a U.S. assistant in the 2004, a role she duplicated in the 2008 Olympics. She was also the first woman to serve as a U.S. head coach at a major international meet when she led the women's national team in the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships.

Last March, her Bears won their second consecutive NCAA team title - and third in four years - one month after they won the inaugural Pac-12 team championship. McKeever, who also led Cal to NCAA titles in 2009 and 2011, claimed the Coach of the Meet award for the third time after emerging triumphant at this year's national meet. In April, the conference named her its Pac-12 Coach of the Year, which marked McKeever's fifth conference award (including awards in 1999, 2002, 2009 and 2011).

In 2002, McKeever garnered the American Swimming Coaches Association Coach of the Year award.

Olympic Summer for Cal Women's Swimming
Forty six athletes, coaches and administrators represented Cal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, and together, they brought home a school-record-tying 17 medals (11 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze). The Bears have won 50 medals over the past three Olympics (16 in 2004, 17 in 2008, 17 in 2012), and they have captured 178 medals all-time (99 gold).

The Cal swimming contingent produced perhaps the most prominent Golden Bears in London. Among the current Bears, U.S. and Cal head coach Teri McKeever, Caitlin Leverenz (USA), Rachel Bootsma (USA) and Hong Kong's Stephanie Au took part in the Games.
• McKeever was the U.S. Olympic head coach for the first time, after working as a U.S. assistant coach in the 2004 and 2008 Games
• Leverenz won her first Olympic medal by capturing a bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley
• Bootsma won gold after swimming the preliminary heats of the eventually victorious U.S. 400-meter medley relay
• Au - competing in her second consecutive Olympics for Hong Kong - swam in the 100 and 200 backstroke heats

Cal No. 1 Public University in the Country
The University of California is the No. 1-ranked public university in the United States, according to U.S. News and World Report. The faculty has won 22 Nobel Prizes, including nine current members, while 28 alumni have received a Nobel Prize. A National Research Council analysis of U.S. universities concluded that the campus has the largest number of highly ranked graduate programs in the country (48 of 52). Cal also has a long commitment to public service, with more than 4,000 students annually doing volunteer work and more than 3,000 Peace Corps participants all-time.