2021 MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The freshmen made an immediate impact on Sunday night as the Pac-12 men’s championship kicked off, with the Cal Bears walking away with two wins in the 800 free and 400 relays.
In the 800 free relay we saw first-year swimmers Destin Lasco of Cal and Luke Maurer from Stanford lead their respective schools by starting for the fastest shift, achieving their personal best times of 1: 33.28. This is the second time the two have played a draw in just over a week, as Lasco and Maurer both set a best time of 1: 33.99 in a doubles event.
A second cardinal freshman, Preston forest, then dropped the second fastest split in the field swimming second (1: 31.68), which opened up a big lead for Stanford. In the end, Cal would let them win for the win, but Maurer and Forst looked exceptional and should be big factors for the next three days.
Then, in the 400 relay, Cal first year Bjorn Seeliger produced a scorching anchor of 41.21 free throws, which brought the Bears to a new measuring record. Swimming by Seeliger is one of the top 100 free relay splits we’ve seen this season, with Texas Daniel Krueger with a 41.18 for the fastest.
In addition to Maurer and Forst’s performances on the 800 for free, three of Stanford’s four legs on the 400 medley were freshmen.
Leon MacAlister led in 47.41, Ethan Hu was very impressive in 45.11 on fly, and Jonny Affeld anchored in 42.08. MacAlister, a native of Australia, swam among his best 47.46 series earlier this month, while Hu possessed a flat-fly 100-flight best of 45.47 and Affeld was almost a full second below his flat-free 100 free time (43.05).
The Cardinal eventually finished third in 3: 06.14, faster than the team’s winning time last season.
Through two events, Cal, Stanford and Arizona all looked good, but it is clear that the first-year swimmers will have a big impact on the event.
RELA SPLITS
In addition to the first-year work, Alexei Sancov achieved the best time of the 800 free relay for USC, with 1: 32.69 to pick up his 2018 PB of 1: 32.80, and Trenton Julian was fantastic with a flight split of 1: 31.52 for Cal.
Participate in Seeliger on the winning Cal relay, Bryce Mefford, Reece Whitley and Ryan Hoffer everyone looked good. Mefford was just less than his best time in 2019 at 45.51 on the back, while Whitley’s 50.83 put him off his 50.65 from last season.
Hoffer’s 45.05 on the fly was just under half a second slower than 2020, although he jumped early on that 44.59.
800 FREE RELAY
- Cal, 6: 11.98
- Stanford, 6: 12.83
- Arizona, 6: 16.30
Derivation Split
Flying Splits
| Swimmer | School | Divide |
| Trenton Julian | Kal | 1: 31.52 |
| Preston forest | Stanford | 1: 31.68 |
| Zach Yeadon | Kal | 1: 32.96 |
| Brooks failed | Arizona | 1: 33.66 |
| Grant shoults | Stanford | 1: 33.75 |
| Jagter Ingram | Arizona | 1: 33.82 |
| Mason Gonzalez | Stanford | 1: 34.12 |
| Daniel Carr | Kal | 1: 34.22 |
| Max Saunders | USC | 1: 34.67 |
| Dominic Margarino | USC | 1: 34.71 |
| Harry Homans | USC | 1: 34.97 |
| Isaac Stump | Arizona | 1: 35.42 |
| Noah Carlson | Utah | 1: 37.03 |
| Marko Kovacic | Utah | 1: 38.68 |
| Dylan Becker | Utah | 1: 39.99 |
400 Medley Relay
- Cal, 3: 02.60
- Arizona, 3: 05.35
- Stanford, 3: 06.14
Back Split
| Swimmer | School | Divide |
| Bryce Mefford | Kal | 45.51 |
| Ogi Maric | Arizona | 45.90 |
| Andrei Ungur | Utah | 46.91 |
| Leon MacAlister | Stanford | 47.41 |
| Jack Kirby | USC | 47.64 |
| Jack Anderson | Arizona | 47.93 |
| David Schlicht | Arizona | 48.30 |
| Ryan Garstang | Utah | 48.83 |
Bors Splits
| Swimmer | School | Divide |
| Reece Whitley | Kal | 50.83 |
| Daniel Roy | Stanford | 51.54 |
| Sam Iida | Arizona | 51.74 |
| Andrew Britton | Utah | 51.98 |
| Ryan Foote | Arizona | 52.04 |
| Mario Koenigsperger | USC | 52.28 |
| Ty Wells | Arizona | 53.02 |
| Jaek Horner | Utah | 53.68 |
Fly Splits
| Swimmer | School | Divide |
| Ryan Hoffer | Kal | 45.05 |
| Ethan Hu | Stanford | 45.11 |
| Noah Reid | Arizona | 45.11 |
| Alexei Sancov | USC | 45.50 |
| Ben Waterman | Utah | 46.41 |
| Brooks Tamer | Arizona | 46.89 |
| Santiago Contreras | Utah | 47.39 |
| Ty Coen | Arizona | 47.59 |
Free Splits
| Swimmer | School | Divide |
| Bjorn Seeliger | Kal | 41.21 |
| Nikola Miljenic | USC | 41.92 |
| Jonny Affeld | Stanford | 42.08 |
| Marin Ercegovic | Arizona | 42.30 |
| Cooper Cephas | Utah | 42.35 |
| Finn O’Haimhirgin | Utah | 42.64 |
| Tai kamme | Arizona | 43.80 |
| Aldan Johnston | Arizona | 43.94 |
TEAM (THRU DAY 1 + DIVING)
- Utah, 189
- Stanford, 173
- Arizona, 152
- USC, 124
- Cal, 102