Cal Blasts NCAA-Leading 1:21.67 200 Medley Relay To Kick Off Cal vs. ASU Dual Meet

By Sidney Zacharias on SwimSwam

#1/#16 ARIZONA STATE @ #2/#11 CAL

•  January 20, 2024
• Spieker Aquatics Complex
  • Berkeley, California
• Live Results available on Meet Mobile: “Cal vs ASU Co-Ed”
• SCY (25 yards)
• Livestream
• Live Recap

The men’s side of the highly anticipated Arizona State/Cal matchup is already off to a quick start, as the Cal Bears captured the opening 200 medley relay in 1:21.67, with the Sun Devils just a tenth behind at 1:21.77.

Cal’s performance moves them up to 1st in the NCAA so far this season, overtaking Arizona State’s 1:21.85 from the NC State Invitational in November. Arizona State is now 2nd with their swim today, while defending NCAA champions NC State will hold to on to 3rd (1:22.87).

Cal’s victory was driven by their first two legs, as Bjorn Seeliger opened with a 20.22 on backstroke, followed by a 23.17 from breaststroker Liam Bell. Arizona State had the advantage in the back half with Ilya Kharun on fly (19.29) and Jonny Kulow for the free leg (18.25), but it was not enough to close the gap.

Seeliger owns the fastest 50 backstroke split ever at 20.08 from NCAAs in 2022, but his split today put him under the 20.29 he recorded leading off this relay at NCAAs last March.

Split Comparison:

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SwimSwam: Cal Blasts NCAA-Leading 1:21.67 200 Medley Relay To Kick Off Cal vs. ASU Dual Meet