Golden Crowns: McLaughlin, Carr are Pac-12 Swimmers of the Week, Clausi is Gymnastics Freshman of the Week

Just about every week, numerous Cal student-athletes earn special conference (or other publication) recognitions for their great work. To highlight these achievements more than usual, we will try to produce a separate post that is more individual focused than team focused.

This week, congratulations to

Katie McLaughlin, Cal Women’s Swimming - Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week

Senior Katie McLaughlin won 5 races last weekend in the two meets at Arizona State and Arizona last weekend. Her 5 wins come in 5 different events - 200 Fly (1:55.89), 500 Free (4:48.02), 200 Free (1:46.81), 100 Free (49.29), and 100 Fly (52.69). McLaughlin also swam a leg of the Cal’s winning 200 Free relay at ASU.

Part of that talented recruiting class that head coach Teri McKeever brought into Berkeley after Missy Franklin turned pro, McLaughlin has been overshadowed originally by the success of Kathleen Baker (since turned pro) and also a nasty neck injury from a freak training accident in her freshman year. After a lost freshman year, McLaughlin has steadily improved to contribute on numerous events for the Bears as well as making the US National team.

Last year, McLaughlin scored points at the NCAA by making the A-Finals in 100 Fly, 200 Fly, and 100 Free. She also contributed in 3 relays. At the 2017 NCAA championships, McLaghlin finished 2nd in the country for 200 Fly. Currently, Katie is on pace to score points in 4 events - 100 Free, 200 Free, 100 Fly, and 200 Fly.

Daniel Carr, Cal Men’s Swimming - Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week

Sophomore Daniel Carr is attempting to carry on the backstroke legacies of Cal Men’s Swimming that saw Calympian Ryan Murphy dominate that stroke and teammate and fellow Calympian Jacob Pebley right behind him. Carr won 3 backstroke races at the Arizona schools last week by taking the 100 Back, 200 Back at Arizona as well as the 100 Back at Arizona State.

Similar to the Murphy/Pebley internal competition, Carr also has a backstroke rival in fellow sophomore Bryce Mefford who finished ahead of Carr in the 200 Back at ASU.

At the NCAA championships last year, Carr scored points in the B-Finals for both the 100 Back (11th overall) and 200 Back (10th overall). He’s looking to improve to the A-Finals this year, if not win those. Carr also swam the leadoff leg of the 200 Medley relay at the NCAA that set a new American record.

This was Daniel Carr’s 1st Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week honor.

Milan Clausi, Cal Women’s Gymnasitcs - Pac-12 Freshman of the Week

Milan Clausi is one of the talented freshmen that joined Cal Women’s Gymnastics this past year. Clausi has the Olympics in her blood as her mother was a US Olympian in gymnastics (and her father played for the NFL). Against Arizona last week, Clausi had routines in Vault (9.90), Beam (9.775), and Floor (9.825). Her vault score won her that event at the meet. All of her routines have high difficulties, meaning that she can easily earn even more points with the same routines later on this season once she cleans a few things up. This certainly may not be her last Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honor - although she has some competitions from her fellow freshmen on the Golden Bears squad.

For more information on the team performance, check back in a bit for the weekly “Golden Medals” recap.

GO BEARS!