California Press Release
Ryan Murphy's final dual meet in Berkeley was a lot like the ones that have come before – score a few points, break a couple of records and lead the Cal men's swimming and diving team to a victory.
But as the bittersweet reality sunk in Saturday that Murphy had competed for the final time at Spieker Aquatics Complex, it served as another reminder that the lasting impact he will leave on the Golden Bear program reaches far beyond his impeccable swimming career.
"I don't think you can really put it into any words that would justify it," Cal coach David Durden said following Cal's 136-105 victory over rival Stanford. "You could look at it from a performance perspective and say he scored this many points, won this many national titles, won this many medals and set this many records. But I think that only captures part of it. He's such a leader how he manages things outside of the pool."
An Academic All-American and student in the prestigious Haas School of Business, Murphy set two pool records Saturday – teaming up with Connor Hoppe, Matthew Josa and Pawel Sendyk to win the 200 medley relay in 1:25.61 and then winning the 200 individual medley in 1:44.85. Murphy also won the 200 backstroke in 1:42.37.
It's been a really good four years," said Murphy, a three-time gold medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics. "When I chose Cal, I was super excited to be here. I came in here as a kid and I think I'm coming out as a bigger, more mature kid. This has been the best ride of my life and I'm pretty sad that it's my last dual meet. But I wouldn't have wanted to do it with any other group of guys."
Murphy and fellow seniors Hunter Cobleigh, Jonathan Fiepke, Dillon Williams and Long Gutierrez were honored during a pre-meet ceremony. Gutierrez represented Mexico at the 2016 Summer Games.
"It's hard to see (the seniors) go because you go from spending every day with them to, in some cases, not seeing them again," Durden said. "You know there's a finality to that. I feel like it's such a diverse group of guys. It makes it fun every day."
Sophomore Andrew Seliskar, the reigning Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month, was also a triple-winner – taking the 200 freestyle (1:35.46), 200 butterfly (1:44.85) and 200 breaststroke (1:57.01). Freshman Michael Jensen took the 50 free (19.70) and 100 free (43.49).
While Murphy and his fellow seniors may have competed for the final time at Spieker, their collegiate careers are far from over. The Bears next compete at the Pac-12 Championships Mar. 1-4 in Federal Way, Wash.
"Cal has been everything I could have ever imagined and more," Murphy said. "The amount of inspiring people in the classroom, in the pool and really all facets of life – I've learned so much from so many different people."
Stanford Press Release
#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.
