Cal Lands Five on USA Swim Team Headed to World Championships

Cal swimmers past and present won four events at the USA Swimmers Championships this week at Indianapolis, with a total of five Golden Bears earning qualification to the FINA World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan later this month.

Former Cal stars Abbey Weitzeil and Ryan Murphy landed individual event berths in two events, as did rising junior Jack Alexy. Dare Rose and Dustin Lasco also will compete at the Worlds.

Weitzeil, 26, won the 50-meter freestyle in the U.S. Open record-time of 24.09 seconds, second-fastest ever by an American. The 2016 Olympian, who won six medals at the 2021 World Championships, also qualified in the 100 free, where she finished second in 53.11 at the IU Natatorium.

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Murphy, who celebrates his 28th birthday today, qualified in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. The 2017 Cal grad won the 200 back in 1:55.03 to earn his fifth trip to the Worlds, where he has won 17 medals, including seven golds.

Murphy then finished second in the 100 back in 52.39, also securing a berth at Fukuoka.

Alexy, a 6-foot-7 native of New Jersey, won the 100 free in 47.93 after swimming a lifetime best of 47.63 in the prelims. He also qualified in the 50 free, where he swam 21.63 to finish second.

Rose, a rising senior from New Jersey, won the 100 butterfly in 50.75 to earn a berth at Worlds. He finished a non-qualifying second in the 50 butterfly with a time of 23.20.

Lasco, who will be a senior in the fall, qualified second in the 200 backstroke behind Murphy, clocking 1:55.63, and also secured a relay spot by finishing fourth in the 100 free in 48.00.

Cal also will be represented in Japan by six swimmers on international teams: Hugo Gonzalez (Spain), Lucas Henveaux (Belgium), Bjorn Seeliger (Sweden), Robin Hanson (Sweden), Ziyad Salmem (Sudan) and Leah Polonsky (Israel).

The World Championships will be held July 23-30 at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall.

Cover photo of former Cal swim star Abbey Weitzeil by Robert Hanashiro, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

Add us as a preferred source on Google