Day 1 Recaps:
No Golden Bear has yet to punched a ticket to Rio...yet, but both Dana Vollmer and Josh Prenot have advanced to the Women's 100 Fly and Men's 100 Breast finals on Monday night. Vollmer is the top seed while Prenot earned the 3rd seed for their finals.
Caitlin Leverenz, who represented the U.S.A. in both 200 IM AND 400 IM in the London 2012 games, finished 5th in the 400 IM.
Other Golden Bears who made it to the evening sessions included sophomore Katie McLaughlin who finished 9th in the W. 100 Fly semifinals to be the first alternative, junior Connor Hoppe who finished 10th in the M. 100 Breast semifinals to be the second alternative, and recent graduate Chuck Katis who finished 13th in the M. 100 Breast.
Josh Prenot did qualify for the 400 IM final with the 6th best time but decided to scratch that event's final to concentrate on the 100 Breast.
UPDATE:
Checking the CalBears.com recap, I did miss a few Cal swimmers from yesterday (all eliminated in the prelims). Here is the full list:
- Men's 400-meter individual medley - 6. Josh Prenot 4:14.19; 12. Andrew Seliskar 4:20.05; 61. Ken Takahashi 4:29.92
- Women's 100-meter butterfly - 2. Dana Vollmer 57.50; 6. Katie McLaughlin 59.14; 42. Rachel Bootsma 1:00.39
- Men's 400-meter freestyle - 46. Ryan Kao 3:58.36
- Women's 400-meter individual medley - 5. Caitlin Leverenz 4:39.55; 39. Celina Li 4:53.21; 56. Chenoa Devine 4:55.12
- Men's 100-meter breaststroke - T3. Josh Prenot 59.76; 14. Connor Hoppe 1:01.38; 16. Chuck Katis 1:01.41; 45. Carson Sand 1:02.66; 55. Hunter Cobleigh 1:02.88; 69. Sean Mahoney 1:03.19; 97. Zach Stevens 1:04.07; 109. Nick Silverthorn 1:04.38; 117. Wyatt Hodges 1:04.64
Day 2 Events:
Women's 100m Fly - Final
Men's 200m Free - Semifinal
Women's 100m Breast - Semifinal
Men's 100m Breast - Final
Women's 400m Free - Final
Men's 100m Back - Semifinal
Women's 100m Back - Semifinal
For all of today's finals, only the top 2 swimmers will make the U.S. Olympic team. For the 200 Free tomorrow, top 6 will make the team with the extra swimmers serving as depth for the relay heats.
Link to Day Two Heat Sheet (please let me know in the comments if there are other Cal swimmers that I missed)
Viewing Info:
Prelims: 8 AM PT (LIVE on NBC Sports App/Live Stream)
Prelims tape delayed on TV: 3:30 PM PT on NBC Sports Network
Finals: 5 PM PT on NBC
Results: USA Swimming site has links to the corresponding Omega time sheets
CGB overall preview of the 2016 USA Swim Olympic Trials (6/26 - 7/3)
*****
Golden Bears to watch:
Women's 100m Fly - Final
Dana Vollmer will likely be the first Golden Bears to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympics swimming squad. The 2012 London gold medalist in this event is the favorite to win this race. She does face a strong competition led by Louisville's Kelsi Worrell who have dominated this event in the NCAA's.
Men's 200m Free - Semifinal
SwimSwam preview of this event
Trent Williams is the lone Cal representative in this event but he doesn't have one of the top 12 times. Even with 6 men making the team from this event, I don't think any of them will have a Berkeley tie.
Women's 100m Breast - Semifinal
SwimSwam preview of this event
Jessica Hardy is probably the favorite for this event, although some of the youngsters like Indiana's Lilly King may push Hardy out. Since the Cal graduate, Hardy, is now training with USC, I don't think the Cal women's swimming Twitter will focus on her results.
Maija Roses is the lone other familiar name that I see in the heat sheet.
Men's 100m Breast - Final
Recent Cal graduate (turns out that he's not quite down with the degree but has just exhaust his eligibility, he will come back and finish that physics degree in the fall) Josh Prenot will look to make his first Olympics. Prenot is the 3rd seed going into the final, where again only the top two will earn a spot on the team.
Women's 400m Free - Final
SwimSwam preview of this event
The 400 Free format is different from that of the rest, given how it's a long race. The prelims are split into two groups, with the better seeds actually swimming earlier on the day.
Former Golden Bears and recently announced Wisconsin transfer Cierra Runge is probably the best bet amongst the Cal affiliated swimmers to snatch that second spot besides Katie Ledecky (a Stanford commit who has deferred matriculation until after the Rio games).
Given how distance freestyle has always been a weak spot for the Bears beside Runge, I can't find another familiar name in the heat sheet.
Men's 100m Back - Semifinal
SwimSwam preview of this event
For whatever reasons, Cal has been Backstroke U for a while now. The top backstrokers for both men and women flock to Berkeley.
For the men, senior Ryan Murphy has dominated the NCAA for the past three years. He is easily the favorite given his recent performances, including at a long course at the worlds at the end of 2015.
Murphy's teammate who recently graduated Jacob Pebley has the 4th best time this year. He is a threat to earn a spot as well.
The Cal pair will have to fend off old guards like Matt Grevers (Arizona alum) and Eugene Godsoe (Stanford alum).
Current Cal Bears Mike Thomas, Jesse Rykman, and David Puczkowski are other names that I found in the heat sheet.
Women's 100m Back - Semifinal
SwimSwam preview of this event
Cal practices have traditionally been the most competitive races for women's 100 Back. Natalie Coughlin's signature event back in the days, her success is partially to blame for why all of the top backstrokes like Missy Franklin and Rachel Bootsma had chosen to come to Berkeley.
Missy Franklin and Rachel Boostma edged Natalie Coughlin for the 2012 London game berths 4 years ago. While Coughlin has shifted focus to be a sprinter, she has found her mojo in 100 Back in the last year after not swimming that event for 2+ years. Whether Coughlin can make a return to this event is one of the most intriguing story of this Olympic trial.
Cal sophomore Kathleen Baker is also another strong contender. Recent Cal grad Elizabeth Pelton hasn't swam that well for a couple of years, but has always shown that potential. Another Cal sophomore in Amy Bilquist is also in the mix. Recent Cal graduate Melanie Klaren is another swimmer who does quite well in this event.
All of the swimmers that I listed can easily make the semifinals in the evening.
Good luck to all of the Golden Bears racing today.
GO BEARS!