BERKELEY, Calif. – #11 Stanford lost its first conference dual meet of the season, dropping a 136-105 decision at #2 California on Saturday at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.
"It's always a great opportunity to race such a well-rounded team like Cal in a dual meet," said Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming Ted Knapp. "This is a team that could very well end up winning Nationals, so I was pleased to see a lot of our guys come out and compete with them."
The Cardinal team of Ryan Dudzinski, Matt Anderson, Andrew Liang and Cole Cogswell (1:27.16) started the meet with a runner-up finish in the 200-yard medley relay.
Stanford scored a one-two-three finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle, led by True Sweetser (9:00.25). Liam Egan (9:09.37) and Grant Shoults (9:14.97) rounded out the top three.
Shoults also swam the next event, the 200-yard freestyle, finishing third (1:37.87). Sam Perry followed it up with a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, before Abrahm DeVine (1:46.81) took third place in the 200-yard individual medley.
Jimmy Yoder (1:45.19) was edged out in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing second. Perry (43.79) collected his second runner-up of the day, this time in the 100-yard freestyle.
Patrick Conaton (1:44.29) took second place in the 200-yard backstroke, followed by another sweep of the podium in the 500-yard freestyle. Shoults (4:21.90) led the way, followed by Egan (4:23.74) and Sweetser (4:23.94).
Cal clinched the meet with a podium sweep in the 200-yard breaststroke. Anderson (1:59.34) was Stanford's highest finisher in fourth place.
The meet ended with the 200-yard freestyle, won by the Golden Bears. Stanford's quartet of Perry, Liang, Cogswell and DeShon (1:20.06) scored points in second place.
Stanford dominated the diving events, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards. Bradley Christensen (385.35) won the 1-meter, with Cameron Thatcher (324.90) in second. Ted Miclau (363.98) won the 3-meter, with Tarek Abdelghany (353.78) and Thatcher (342.60) completing the sweep.
Stanford returns to action at the Pac-12 Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, Washington. The Pac-12 Diving Championships will be held Feb. 22-25, followed by the swimming portion of the championship March 1-4.
After the conference championships, Stanford's divers will compete in the NCAA Zone E Championships (March 5-7) in Flagstaff, Arizona, followed by the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships (March 23-25) in Indianapolis.