Okadome doubles up and wins the 200 breast.

Decent alumni sighting in the stands, along with a few of current year's team and O'Dell, Weinstein and Cosgrove staying after the women's meet to support.

Cal is currently in 6th, 13 points behind 5th place Tennessee. One more day to go.

Appreciate Okadome & Cal swimmers in general a bit more when looking at the result of Texas Breaststroker Nate Germonprez. Germonprez led the country for most of the years, even had fastest swims at this meet but then finished 3rd and 5th while Okadome won 2 races with 2 personal bests.

NC swim meets with all of its pressure can really hurt athletes.

Diver Joshua Thai advanced to the final 8! A diver instead of swimmers will compete in the afternoon for Cal!

Final standing Cal in 7th place in the team title. Josha Thai 13 pts in the Platform dive catapulted Cal over Mich.

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 21

1. Texas 445.5 2. Florida 416
3. Indiana 351 4. Arizona St 328
5. Tennessee 272 6. NC State 258.5
7. California 231 8. Michigan 220
9. Virginia 192 10. Stanford 136
11. Virginia Tech 86 12. Louisville 82

Pitt Women Record Best Finish in Women's NCAA Swim & Dive History (FULL 48 TEAM SCORING MOVES)

The Cal women jumped by over 100 points from last year's NCAA Championship meet to this year's and climbed 4 spots, which makes them the clear breakout team of this year's championship.

The Golden Bears were the only team in the top 10 that jumped as many spots, though they were one of two teams that had triple digit point gains from last year to this year. The other team was #6 Michigan, who picked up 100 points off last year in spite of being 38.5 points behind their seeded points in 2026.

• #4 Cal Best Finish since 2021 (#4)
  
  • Last Time they were higher than 4th was 2019 (#2)

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Reviewing SwimSwam's 2026 NCAA Event Predictions Women's Edition

• The Cal women had four swimmers make 'A' finals we didn't predict, including freshmen Teagan O'Dell (400 IM) and Annie Jia (100 fly), who placed 3rd and 5th, respectively. Sophomore Mary-Ambre Moluh claimed 6th in the 100 free after not being picked in the top eight, while fellow French Golden Bear Lilou Ressencourt took 8th in the 200 fly.

• Cal freshman Claire Weinstein claimed the 500 free title over defending champion Jillian Cox, two nights after Cox ran down Weinstein in the 1650 free.

• Stanford senior Lucy Bell won the 200 IM, while our pre-race pick Anastasia Gorbenko was 4th, and the Cal duo of O'Dell and Mia West finished 2nd and 3rd.

2026 Swammy Awards: Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving

Coach of the Year: Dave Durden, Cal

Despite graduating their top two individual scorers from a year ago, the Cal women had their highest finish since 2021 when they were also 4th. It was the highest finish since Durden took over the program and four places higher than their 8th place finish a year ago, scoring an additional 100 points in the process. Even after a DQ on night 1 in the 200 medley relay, the team stormed back to finish 4th earning the trophy on a 4th place finish in the 400 free relay.

The freshman class was the top ranked recruiting class coming into the season, and #2 ranked Teagan O'Dell, #3 ranked Claire Weinstein, and #5 ranked Annie Jia sure did live up to that ranking. They were the top scoring freshman class of any program with 109 individual points, ahead of Virginia's 78.5 individual points from Virginia's freshman class.

In addition to their freshman class, Mia West also had a strong sophomore season for the Golden Bears. West was a relay-only swimmer a year ago at the 2025 NCAA Championships but scored a total of 28 individual points this year, highlighted by a 3rd place finish in the 200 IM. Fellow sophomore Mary-Ambre Moluh more than doubled her individual points from a year ago, going from 14.5 points to 32 individual points.


Freshman Swimmer of the Year: Claire Weinstein, Cal

Weinstein was the #3 ranked recruit coming out of high school and was the only freshman to swim to an individual NCAA title this year. She had a busy night one under the new format, kicking off the evening session with the 1650 free where she led from lane eight until defending champion Jillian Cox charged on the final 500 of the race to earn the win.

Despite the top eight in the 1650 free being in the same session as the 800 free relay, Weinstein also swam on Cal's 800 free relay splitting a 1:41.44 helping them to 3rd. Like her 1650 free, Weinstein was out fast in the 500 free and was able to grow her lead every 50 from Cox, also the defending champion in the event. Weinstein was the highest scoring freshman at NCAAs with 48 individual points.

Honorable Mentions:

• Teagan O'Dell, Cal: O'Dell was the 2nd highest individual scoring freshman at the NCAA level with 46 individual points and lived up to being the #2 ranked recruit in the class. She was 2nd in the 200 IM with a season best 1:49.51 and dropped over five seconds during the season in the 400 IM going from a 4:05.22 to a 3:59.43.

The general public does not have access to the portal, only coaches do. Reporting from SwimSwam comes from coaches releasing info to their writers.

That being said, there's a few high-level athletes in the portal on the men's side. Nick Simons from Tennessee may be a target for the coaches - he's entered as a redshirt senior with a year of eligibility remaining as a grad transfer - made the NC A-final in the 200 back, sub 45 in the 100 back, and Cal would be close to home for him (originally from Portland, OR).

Others in the portal include Luka Mladenovic from Michigan (A finalist in both BR events) and Minnesota's Jacob Johnson (4th in 200 fly

https://instagr.am/p/DWMV5KZkV27

Cal Freshman Teagan O'Dell Dealt with "Multiple Injuries" At the Start of the NCAA Season

Cal freshman Teagan O'Dell revealed on Instagram last week that she dealt with "multiple injuries and mental battles" at the start of her first NCAA season earlier this year.

The California women's team had their highest finish since 2021 at this year's NCAA Championships, and their freshmen class, including O'Dell, was huge in that finish. O'Dell was the 2nd highest scoring swimmer on the team, bringing in 46 individual points and swimming on four relays.

O'Dell finished 3rd in the 400 IM and raced a dirty double on day four of the meet, swimming the 200 IM, where she finished 2nd, and the 200 back, where she was 6th overall. Her 200 IM (1:52.76) and her 200 back (1:49.51) were new season best times and her 400 IM (3:59.43) was a new lifetime best.

On March 22, O'Dell posted a few photos from NCAAs along with a video of her slipping during a backstroke start with the caption "'Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall'

Transitioning into college brought an immense amount of responsibility, commitment, and energy that I was not quite prepared for. In the beginning of the season I struggled with multiple injuries and mental battles that took some time to overcome. If it weren't for the incredible coaches, staff and athletes at CAL, I would have never been able to step behind the blocks this past week with confidence in my ability to perform for this team. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to represent CAL and be honored to be a bear."

2026 Women's NCAAs: How Did Our Top 20 Recruits Perform As Freshmen?



Relevant links:

• Way-Too-Early Sophomore Ranks, Class of 2025 Girls
• Junior Ranks, Class of 2025 Girls
• Senior Re-Ranks, Class of 2025 Girls

TOP 20 RANKED RECRUITS
RANK. SWIMMER
TEAM
2026 NCAA POINTS

1. Alex Shackell
Indiana
33

2. Teagan O'Dell
Cal
46

3. Claire Weinstein
Cal
48

5. Annie Jia
Cal
14

12. Elle Scott
Cal
0

18. Ella Cosgrove
Cal
1

• Throughout their high school careers, the top three recruits in this class were pretty clear-cut; the only question was which order to rank them. We landed on Alex Shackell, who initially committed to Cal but later changed to Indiana, as the #1 in this class, with Cal's Teagan O'Dell and Claire Weinstein close behind. All three performed well at their first NCAA meet, but it was Weinstein who emerged as the top scorer.
• Weinstein, who largely flew under the radar during her freshman year in Berkeley, made an immediate impression in her NCAA debut, taking the fastest-seeded heat of the 1650 free by storm on the opening night of racing before settling for 2nd behind Texas' Jillian Cox with a new personal best of 15:36.52. Two nights later, Weinstein came through and won the national title in the 500 free, holding Cox at bay down the stretch for a comfortable victory in a time of 4:30.09. Weinstein also made the 200 free final, placing 8th to finish with 48 points. She also contributed on Cal's top-four-finishing 400 and 800 free relays.
• Weinstein's teammate O'Dell was close behind with 46 points, making the final of all three of her events and finishing no lower than 6th. O'Dell was the runner-up in the 200 IM, placed 3rd with a new best time in the 400 IM (3:59.43), and also placed 6th in the 200 back while swimming on four of Cal's relays.
• Shackell trailed Weinstein and O'Dell with 33 points

• Our fifth and sixth-ranked recruits, Cal's Annie Jia and Florida's Grace Rabb, both hit double-digit points after making one final apiece at NCAAs, with Jia placing 5th in the 100 fly and Rabb taking 6th in the 200 breast.

There's a lot of tampering ongoing with recruiting and transfers, etc.

Pitt's head coach, Chase Kreitler (former Cal assistant, 2018-2022) disclosed in a SwimSwam interview that many of his athletes were openly approached by coaches and swimmers from other teams while at NCAAs in Atlanta and were specifically told "hey, you should come swim for us." Big problem.

I have no info on O'Dell's specific situation, but she was a big high school and club hopper prior to Cal (4 teams in 4 years). I'm wondering if that now carries over to the college scene as well.

Really disappointed in her. Why did she put out that video explaining about her injuries and how the girls help her get through this...and now she turns around and goes into the portal. Don't put out that video if already had plan to leave.
'

I'm devastated! I'm such a fan of hers and thought she was fitting in so well. She had a fantastic Freshman season. I was so looking forward to cheering on her progress at Cal. I haven't given up hope that she is just checking out options and will decide that she should stay.

Some more transfer discourse: 2025 ACC Champion Michel Arkhangelskiy Of Florida State Enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Foreign Embassy: If (Julian) Koch and this guy show up at Cal, watch out

Go Bears (replying to Foreign Embassy): That would be just what the doctor ordered. I'm still sad about Teagan leaving. Those two would plug some major holes for the men's team.

Bobthebuilderrocks (replying to Go Bears): I think Arkhangelskiy is considering Cal. Get the feeling it's between Cal and Stanford for him.
I'm going off of the teams Michel follows on social media. Koch follows Pepperdine (for some reason), Pitt, and UVA. I thought he'd be headed to UVA, to be honest. Especially after all the UVA hype posts on kids they've landed. But after someone said he tried asking DeSorbo for NIL money and it sounded like it didn't go too well, makes me think it's still not decided.
Cal needs someone like Arkhangelskiy, with no Petty this coming year, Pugaard is the next fastest 100 backstroker at 45.7.
Him, Yamato, Pugaard, Battaglini for medley relays? Sheesh! Jordan Ragland is no joke in the sprint freestyles too. I think Cal will be back sooner rather than later. Baylor Stanton and Tim Wu will beef up those middle-distance events, compliment Erisman and the rest of the 2025 distance guys well.
Looking over Baylor Stanton's PBs, good gosh is he gonna be a star for Cal. He could be swimming 400 IM/100 back/200breast individually, be on their 800 free relay and their 50 backstroker. Like what? The versatility is absurd

Zefa (replying to BTBR): From what I hear, Koch has 4 trips, none of which are to UVA

Edited to add...

Former Cal Student (replying to Foreign Embassy): I'm still of the belief that even if Koch and Arkhangelskiy transfer to Cal (and Baylor Stanton is who we think he is capable of being), they'd still need another stud to compete for a top two finish at NCAAs as they've been so accustomed to doing, unless one of the underclassmen has a Mia West-like sophomore year progression. But I'm skeptical that both are transferring to Cal.

BTBR (replying to Former Cal Student): Even if they don't get any transfers, I can see them being top 4 next year. ASU loses a ton and the 5th and 6th place teams were 40ish points in front of Cal this past year and Cal basically had a brand new roster this year at NCAAs. They get Baylor Stanton and Tim Wu (1;41 200 back 3;43 400 IM) and two guys coming in with 19.2s in the 50 free, one goes 42.2 in the 100 free and the other is 46 in the fly and back. That's a pretty good class