Cal wins first Pac-12 title since 2015, and this is Stanford’s four-year series

2021 PAC-12 WOMEN SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Final team points

1. Cal, 1519.5
2. Stanford, 1445
3. UCLA, 1169
4. USC, 1006
5. Utah, 951.5
6. Arizona, 827
7. Washington State, 533

The Pac21 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in 2021 came to an end in Houston, with the last two days a tough duel for the team title between Cal and four-time defending champion Stanford. On the final day of the competition, Cal pulled away from Stanford to win the 2021 team title and reach the Cardinals’ four-year series. This is now Cal’s 5th team championship title in conference history, the second most titles.

Cal had a dominant event by winning 7 individual events, winning second place in ten events and winning all 5 relays. Junior Izzy Ivey Swimmer of the Meet won thanks to her three individual Pac-12 titles earned throughout the event: 100 flying (50.87), 100 behind (51.13), 100 free (47.54). Freshmen Isabelle Stadden a junior Alicia Wilson both scored two runners-up and won an individual event, 88 points each. Stadden won the 200 back on the final day (1: 50.83), while Wilson kicked things off on the first day with her 200 IM victory.

Senior Robin Neumann achieved a breakout performance in the 200 final, winning her first Pac-12 title (1: 43.40) after 11 A finals and five third places in her four years at this event. Sophomore Rachel Klinker won the last individual event, the 200 fly (1: 52.82), to distance the Bears from the rest of the teams.

Sophomore Ayla Spitz, senior diver Briana Thai, second year Eloise Riley, 1650 free runner-up Sarah Dimeco, and runner-up junior with double breaststroke Ema Rajic all scored more than 75 points versus Cal’s 1,519.50 points total.

DISTRIBUTION OF CAL COUNT

Score distribution provided by Andrew Mering.

Stanford still has the most overall team title titles with 23, while Arizona remains with the third most with four. In 2021, Stanford finished second with 74.5 points. Stanford’s last runner-up as a team came from the Pac-12s in 2016, where USC won their first Pac-12 team title.

All-Time Pac-12 Team Championship Titles

• 1st: Stanford – 23
• 2nd: Cal – 5
• 3rd: Arizona – 4
• 4th: UCLA – 2
• 5th: USC – 1

The UCLA Bruins finished 3rd with 63 points, beating the first three teams since 2006. Junior Claire Grover was part of a three-way for second in the 50 free, along with achieving a 4th place in the 100 breast. Freshmen Sam Baron was also a runner-up in the 100 fly and swam to 4th in the 200 fly. USC finished fourth with only 15 athletes this year, while UCLA had 25, which contributed to the Bruins team.

If we look at the history of UCLA during the Pac-12 Championship, the Bruins took third place from 1987 to 1991, followed by second place in 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1996. The Bruins only returned in the placed top-3 up to 2001 and 2003 titles and their runner-up in 2004. UCLA finished second as a team in 2006.

Utah finished 5th as a team over Arizona with 124.5 points, another notable finish. Utah only participated in the Pac-12s in 2012. Their best team finishes were a sixth-place finish from three places from 2014-2016. At the 2021 event, Utah beat Arizona for the first time at this event.