Freshmen Make Their Presence Known On Opening Night of Mens Pac-12s – SwimSwam

2021 MEN’S  PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

The freshmen made an immediate impact on Sunday night as the Men’s Pac-12 Championships got underway, with the Cal Bears walking away with two wins in the 800 free and 400 medley relays.

In the 800 free relay, we saw first-year swimmers Destin Lasco of Cal and Luke Maurer of Stanford lead their respective schools off by tying for the fastest opening leg, achieving personal best times of 1:33.28. This marks the second time the two have tied in just over a week, as Lasco and Maurer had both set a best time of 1:33.99 in a recent dual meet.

A second Cardinal freshman, Preston Forst, then dropped the second-fastest split in the field swimming second (1:31.68), opening up a big lead for Stanford. Cal would ultimately run them down for the win, but Maurer and Forst looked exceptional and should be big factors over the next three days.

Then, in the 400 medley relay, Cal freshman Bjorn Seeliger produced a scorching 41.21 freestyle anchor, bringing the Bears in for a new meet record. Seeliger’s swim is one of the top 100 free relay splits we’ve seen this season, with Texas’ Daniel Krueger hitting a 41.18 for the fastest.

In addition to Maurer and Forst’s exploits on the 800 free, three of Stanford’s four legs on the 400 medley were first-years.

Leon MacAlister led off in 47.41, Ethan Hu was very impressive in 45.11 on fly, and Jonny Affeld anchored in 42.08. A native of Australia, MacAlister’s swim slides under his best of 47.46 set earlier this month, while Hu owns a flat-start 100 fly best of 45.47 and Affeld was almost a full second under his flat-start 100 free time (43.05).

The Cardinal ended up placing third in 3:06.14, faster than the team’s winning time from last season.

Through two events, Cal, Stanford and Arizona all looked good, but it’s clear the first-year swimmers will make a sizeable impact on the meet.

RELAY SPLITS

In addition to the freshmen’s work, Alexei Sancov hit a best time leading off the 800 free relay for USC, clocking 1:32.69 to take down his 2018 PB of 1:32.80, and Trenton Julian was fantastic with a 1:31.52 flying split for Cal.

Joining Seeliger on the winning Cal medley relay, Bryce Mefford, Reece Whitley and Ryan Hoffer all looked good. Mefford was just off his 2019 best time in 45.51 on back, while Whitley’s 50.83 puts him just off his 50.65 from last season.

Hoffer’s 45.05 on fly was just under half a second slower than 2020, though he jumped early on that 44.59.

800 FREE RELAY

1. Cal, 6:11.98
2. Stanford, 6:12.83
3. Arizona, 6:16.30

Lead-off Splits

Flying Splits

400 Medley Relay

1. Cal, 3:02.60
2. Arizona, 3:05.35
3. Stanford, 3:06.14

Back Splits

Breast Splits

Fly Splits

Free Splits

TEAM SCORES (THRU DAY 1 + DIVING)

1. Utah, 189
2. Stanford, 173
3. Arizona, 152
4. USC, 124
5. Cal, 102