Yamato Okadome Sizzles For Cal at NCAA Swim Championships

All good things come to an end.

The Cal men’s swim team, which had assembled a remarkable run of 15 consecutive first- or second-place finishes at the NCAA championships, wound up seventh on Saturday as the four-day meet came to a close at Austin, Texas.

But sophomore Yamato Okadome provided the Bears a bright spot, sweeping the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events at McAuley Aquatic Center.

Texas defended its team title, scoring 445.5 points to edge Florida with 416. The Bears totaled 231 points.

A year ago, the Longhorns won with 490 points and Cal was second at 471.

Okadome, a sophomore from Chiba, Japan, became just the second Cal swimmer to sweep the breaststroke events at the NCAA meet, joining Graham Smith, who did it in 1977 and ’79.

Okadome claimed the 100 breast title on Thursday with a time of 49.90 seconds that ranks No. 2 in program history. Liam Bell swam the school-record time of 49.53 to win the 2024 NCAA crown.

Okadome completed the sweep on Friday with a winning time of 1:48.61 in the 200, also second-fastest in Cal history. Reece Whitley’s school record of 1:48.53 has stood since 2020.

As a freshman last season, Okadome was seventh in the 100 breast, sixth in the 200.

Okadome also earned All-America honors in a pair of relays.

Cal’s only entry in a championship final race on Saturday was in the 400 free relay, where the team of freshman Martin Wrede, sophomore Lucca Battaglini, fifth-year Evan Petty and junior Keaton Jones placed eighth at 2:46.59.

In platform diving, senior Joshua Thai finished sixth in platform diving with a score of 386.30 points.

Here are the remaining Cal swimmers who secured first-team All-America honors while competing in the championship finals:

— The foursome of Petty, freshman Casper Puggaard, Wrede and Okadome finished seventh in the 400 medley relay at 3:00.41, fifth-fastest in program history.

— Cal's 200 medley relay foursome of Petty, Okadome, Battaglini and Wrede took sixth place with a time of 1:21.58 that climbs to No. 3 on the Bears’ all-time list.

— Freshman Ryan Erisman swam to a fifth-place finish in the 400 individual medley with a time of 3:36.32 that puts him fifth in the Cal record book.

— Jones placed seventh in the 200 free, clocking a time of 1:31.08 that is fourth best at Cal.

— The 200 free relay team of Wrede, sophomore Lucca Battaglini, Petty and Puggaard touched sixth at 1:14.63, seventh-fastest in Cal history.

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