Nov. 28, 2012

Live Results from the Georgia Fall Invitational

BERKELEY - Second-ranked California battles a strong field when it competes in the Georgia Fall Invitational from Friday, Nov. 30, through Sunday, Dec. 2, at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga. Besides host and No. 3 Georgia, the meet also includes No. 9 Auburn, No. 10 Virginia, Penn State and Harvard.

The two-time defending NCAA champion Cal men will also swim in the Georgia Fall Invitational.

On the women's side, the meet will feature some of the top swimmers in the world with 2012 Olympians from Cal (U.S. bronze medalist Caitlin Leverenz and gold medalist Rachel Bootsma and Hong Kong's Stephanie Au), Georgia (U.S. gold medalists Allison Schmitt and Shannon Vreeland), Virginia (U.S. gold medalist Lauren Perdue) and Auburn (U.S. breaststroker Micah Lawrence and American Samoa freestyler Megan Fonteno) competing in Athens.

Live results will be available at this link on the Georgia website once the meet begins.

Last season, Cal finished second at the Georgia Fall Invitational behind the Bulldogs. The teams swapped places at the 2012 NCAA Championships, at which Cal won its second straight title and Georgia finished second.

Scouting the Golden Bears
• Senior Caitlin Leverenz - the 2012 Honda Award winner and NCAA Swimmer of the Meet - is the defending NCAA champ in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley
• Leverenz brings the country's second-fastest time in the 200 IM (1:56.84), fourth-fastest time in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:09.52), fifth-fastest time in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.33) and eighth-fastest time in the 400 IM (4:10.67) to Athens
• Cal has posted some of the top swims this season in the 100-yard backstroke: freshman Rachel Bootsma has the 16th-best time (53.43), junior Cindy Tran (the two-time defending NCAA champion in the 100 back) is 17th (53.45) and freshman Elizabeth Pelton is 18th (53.46)
• The versatile Pelton is even better in the 200 backstroke, in which she currently holds the nation's second-fastest time (1:54.43); she also holds the third-fastest time in the 200 IM (1:57.11), sixth-best time in the 400 IM (4:09.89) and 10th-best time in the 200 freestyle (1:46.56)
• Tran ranks eighth in the 200 back (1:55.94)
• Sophomore Catherine Breed - a two-time gold medalist (200-meter free and 800-meter free relay) at the 2011 Pan American Games - holds the nation's 20th-best time in the 1650 free (16:38.92)
• Teri McKeever - the 2012 U.S. Olympic head coach and 2012 NCAA Coach of the Meet - is in her 21st season as Cal's head coach; her Bears have captured three of the last four NCAA championships

Scouting the Field
• Georgia senior and U.S. Olympian Allison Schmitt is back after redshirting last season to train for the Olympics in London, where she won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze
• Schmitt currently holds the 15th-fastest time in the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.66), 16th-fastest time in the 1000 free (9:52.92), 17th-fastest time in the 100 freestyle (49.61)
• Georgia junior and U.S. Olympian Shannon Vreeland - a gold medalist in London in the 800-meter freestyle relay - has the 20th-best time in the 200 free (1:47.53)
• Georgia senior Megan Romano - who won the 200 free at the NCAA Championships last spring - has the 11th-best time in the 50 free (22.77)
• Georgia All-American Amber McDermott - the 2012 SEC Freshman of the Year and a member of the Bulldogs' NCAA-winning 800-free relay last season - holds the nation's fourth-fastest time in the 1000 free (9:44.63), 17th-fastest time in the 500 free (4:46.99)
• Virginia senior and U.S. Olympian Lauren Perdue won a gold medal in London as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay
• Perdue currently holds the nation's second-fastest time in the 50 freestyle (22.55), sixth-fastest time in the 100 free (48.91) and eighth-best time in the 200 free (1:46.45)
• Freshman Cavalier Courtney Bartholomew could challenge the Bears in the backstroke, as she holds the fifth-fastest time in the 200 back (1:55.33) and 21st-best time in the 100 (53.68)
• Virginia All-American Rachel Naurath holds the sixth-best time in the 500 free (4:43.83)
• Auburn senior All-American Katie Gardocki is a star in the distance events, as she has clocked the fifth-fastest time in the 1000 free (9:45.42) and 14th-best time in the 1650 free (16:35.05)
• Penn State's Paige Whitmire is ranked 13th in the 50 free (22.79), while teammate Gabi Shishkoff has the nation's 19th-fastest time in the 1000 free (9:55.73) and 20th-fastest time in the 500 free (4:47.49)

Next Time
The Cal divers open the New Year with the Bruin Diving Invitational held from Jan. 11-13 at UCLA. The Cal swimmers open 2013 with a pair of Pac-12 dual meets in the Grand Canyon State, as they take on Arizona on Jan. 25 in Tucson and Arizona State on Jan. 26 in Tempe.

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.