The No. 4 Cal men’s swimming & diving team opened the 2025-26 campaign with a dominating performance on the first day of the Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego, on Friday at Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla.
The Golden Bears totaled four wins through six events, scoring 580 points, to lead all teams after the first day of the meet.
Cal began the day with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with the B-lineup of fifth-year Evan Petty, senior Luca Pusateri Gissendaner, sophomore August Vetsch and sophomore Nans Mazellier. The D-quartet of senior Tommy Roder, sophomore Zachary Tan, freshman Matteo Palmisani and junior Nikolas Antoniou followed behind to claim second.
The Bears filled the top-five spots in the 500-yard freestyle, led by freshman Ryan Erisman who secured his first collegiate first-place finish after touching in a time of 4:15.50. Freshman Norvy Clontz made his college debut to take second (4.21.52) while junior Keaton Jones (4:25.80), sophomore Freddy Klein (4:27.02) and freshman Julien Rousseau (4:27.85) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Sophomore Lucca Battaglini secured his first individual first-place finish after touching first in a time of 48.21. Roder (48.73) and Petty (48.75) rounded out the top-three spots.
Cal had four swimmers placed within the top-five in the 200-yard individual medley, led by reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, Yamato Okadome, who took second with a personal-best time of 1:47.59. Tan (1:48.26), freshman Kenny Barnicle (1:48.76) and freshman Caiden Bowers (1:49.13) followed to take third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Mazellier finished second in the 50-yard freestyle after clocking a time of 19.99. Freshman Casper Puggaard secured his first collegiate victory in the 200-yard butterfly in a time of 1:43.90. Vetsch (1:46.05) and Palmisani (1:46.74) followed to take second and third place, respectively.
Standings through six events:
- Cal (580)
- Hawaii (278.5)
- Santa Barbara (256.5)
- San Diego (241)
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