Cal Men's Swim Team Tries to Extend Remarkable NCAA Streak

The Golden Bears have finished firsr or second at the past 14 collegiate championships

Gabriel Jett / Photo by Catharyn Hayne

The year 2009 seems a long time ago. Parks and Recreation and Modern Family made their debuts on TV. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to an NBA championship. The iPhone 3GS was introduced.

It was also the most recent year the Cal men’s swim team failed to finish among the top two at the NCAA championships. Starting in 2010 (and excluding 2020 when the meet was canceled), coach Dave Durden’s squad has posted a top-2 finish at the past 14 NCAA meets.

The NCAAs will run Wednesday through Saturday this week at Federal Way, Washington, where the third-ranked Bears will try to extend one of the great runs in college sports.

Arizona State won the title a year ago with Cal second. The Bears captured NCAA titles in 2022 and 2023 to go with those they secured in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2019. 

That’s six national championships under Durden, who is in his 17th season as the Cal men’s coach and also heads the women’s program. He has been named NCAA coach of the year seven times, and served as head coach of the U.S. men’s team for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Texas also has been a staple at this meet, winning six times between 2010 and ’22, with five runner-up finishes over that span. 

But they weren’t among the top two in 2013 or either of the past two seasons, so the Bears’ stretch of consistency separates them.

Cal’s competition this week figures to include the usual suspects: Texas, ASU, Indiana and Florida. The Longhorns were No. 1 in the final dual-meet coaches poll, followed closely by Indiana and Cal. The Bears were No. in the preseason rankings.

But dual meets and championship events are apples and oranges. Dual meets are impacted by depth while the NCAA meet requires the cream to rise to the top. 

The Bears expect big performances this week from a group of veterans that includes freestyle sprinter and Olympian Jack Alexy, 200 individual medley specialist Destin Lasco, freestyle sprinter Björn Seeliger, versatile Gabriel Jett, butterflyer Dave Rose and distance freestyler Lucas Henveaux, 

RECENT NCAA SWIM FINISHES

2024: 1. Arizona State; 2. Cal 

2023: 1. Cal; 2. Arizona State

2022: 1. Cal 2. Texas

2021: 1. Texas; 2. Cal

2020: Canceled

2019: 1. Cal; 2. Texas

2018: 1. Texas; 2. Cal

2017: 1. Texas; 2 Cal

2016: 1. Texas; 2. Cal

2015: 1. Texas; 2. Cal

2014: 1. Cal; 2. Texas

2013: 1. Michigan; 2. Cal

2012: 1. Cal; 2. Texas

2011: 1. Cal; 2. Texas

2010: 1. Texas; 2. Cal

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