Fall season is usually the time to train for the NCAAs against other teams, but the Cal women’s swimming team decided it doesn’t need as many dual meets as it needs other opponents.
This fall, the Bears (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) only competed in four dual meets. In contrast, No. 6 Arizona, whom Cal will race on Friday at 1 p.m. in Tucson, Ariz., had nine dual meets in the fall season. Cal’s perennial rivals No. 1 USC and No. 2 Georgia had eight apiece.
The No. 3 Bears have competed in considerably fewer one-on-one meets than have many of their biggest competitors in the Pac-12 and the NCAAs. There are, however, some top 10 teams that also had fewer dual competitions, like No. 8 Stanford, No. 9 Florida and No. 10 Virginia.
Though dual meets have no direct implications for the NCAAs, the meets are opportunities for Cal to make NCAA- qualifying times. The lack of racing time may be disadvantageous for the Bears, but they already had success with qualifying in the fall.
Captain Caitlin Leverenz, who holds six NCAA titles, already posted NCAA-qualifying times in several events. Rachel Bootsma, Elizabeth Pelton and Cindy Tran also swam automatic qualifying times, while many more have provisional NCAA times.
As made apparent by the early qualifications, the Bears’ performance at the meets is good enough even with less racing time because of the additional opportunities for qualification later at the Pac-12 championships.
Cal’s first of five spring dual meets will be in Leverenz’s hometown of Tucson, Ariz. On Saturday, Cal will travel to Tempe, Ariz. for No. 20 Arizona State.
The Bears have not raced since the Georgia Fall Invitational ended on Dec. 2, so this will be their first opportunity to race after a long training period.
“The winter was a really good time for us,” said associate head coach Kristen Cunnane. “We had some really good training both in Berkeley and on our training trip.”
Arizona, however, will give the Bears some challenge in 13-time All American Margo Geer, a captain since her sophomore year. The junior Geer led the Wildcats to wins over Oregon State, New Mexico State and Northern Arizona with three first-place finishes in the 200 free, 100 free and 200-medley relay.
Arizona will also attempt to tame the Bears with newcomer Bonnie Brandon and senior Lauren Smart. Brandon won four events at the Oregon State, New Mexico State and Northern Arizona meet with wins in the 100 and 200 back, 500 free and 400 free relay.
A six-time All-American, Smart was a member of the 200 and 400-medley relays that placed second behind Cal in the NCAA championships last year.
The Bears, however, will fight back with its own talented team consisting of Leverenz, Bootsma, Pelton and Tran.
With this combination, Cal has plenty of firepower for what may be its first important dual meet of the season, but the Bears are not focused on the meet as a must-win but as an opportunity to return to the pool after a long time away from competition.
“This will be a good chance to be back in the racing mode of things and use everything we’ve been working on,” Cunnane said. “It’s a great chance to see where we are.”
Jessica Lim covers women’s swim. Contact her at [email protected]