Cal Men's Swimmers Visit Georgia Invitational

Article by Courtesy: Cal Athletics Photo by Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com
BERKELEY – The Cal men’s swimming team, winners of three of the last four NCAA team titles, will have a stern mid-season test when the Golden Bears travel to the prestigious Georgia Fall Invitational Friday-Sunday, Dec. 5-7, in Athens, Ga. David Durden’s squad will be competing against athletes from host Georgia, plus swimmers from Auburn, Florida State, Penn State and Virginia (Live Stats available by clicking here).
Durden’s talented team, which is 3-0 so far this season with victories over Pacific, Hawaii and Wisconsin – has won 18 straight dual meets over the last three and a half seasons; and features defending national champion (100 and 200 backstroke) Ryan Murphy. Also included among the 2014-15 Bears are 2014 NCAA relay champions Seth Stubblefield, Tyler Messerschmidt, and senior breaststroker Chuck Katis.
Katis, who transferred last January from Harvard, swam the breaststroke leg on Cal’s 2014 NCAA champion 200 medley relay that set an American record, then produced the second-fastest time ever (50.40) on his breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay that captured the national crown. Individually, Katis placed fourth in the 100 breast and fifth in the 200 breast at last year’s NCAA meet. He will have a busy schedule this weekend in Georgia – competing in the 200 IM and the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay on Friday, the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay and the 100 breast on Saturday and the 200 breast on Sunday.
The Bears will again vie for an NCAA crown in 2015 after winning national championships in 2011, 2012 and 2014 under Durden. Besides returning Murphy, Stubblefield, Messerschmidt, and Katis, several other Cal swimmers have shined during Pac-12 and NCAA championship competition in recent years, including junior Josh Prenot, who has been the Pac-12 400 IM champion the past two seasons. The Bears also feature a stellar 2014-15 freshman class