Yamato Okadome Goes 50.48 in 100 Breaststroke as Cal Continues Dominance at Minnesota Invite
This year’s Cal men’s might lack some of the star power of past years, but sophomore Yamato Okadome continues to make inroads as one of the best breaststrokers in college swimming. Following a pair of A-final finishes at last year’s NCAA Championships, Okadome is poised to enter 2026 as the third-fastest 100 breaststroker this college season.
Friday evening at the Minnesota Invitational, Okadome dominated the event in 50.48, which sits behind only Texas teammates Nate Germonprez (49.71) and Campbell McKean (50.37) in the national rankings. Okadome dipped under his previous best time of 50.62 from last season. He was followed by a trio of his Cal teammates, with Luca Gissendaner second (52.06), Zachary Tan third (52.08) and Hank Rivers fourth (52.52).
The Cal men swept all five individual events contested in the session, with a particularly impressive swim coming from Evan Petty in the 100 backstroke. He clocked 44.83 to become the ninth-fastest swimmer in the country this season. Teammate Casper Puggaard took second (46.00) with Harvard’s Adriano Arioti third (47.10).
Luca Battaglini already topped the 50 freestyle in Minneapolis, and he won the 100 butterfly Friday in 45.43. Just behind was teammate Samuel Quarles (45.45) with Minnesota’s Jacob Johnson (45.98) third. Huberto Najera dominated the 400 IM in 3:41.59 ahead of Cal teammates Ryan Erisman (3:46.37) and Freddy Klein (3:46.52). Keaton Jones put up a dominant 200 free time of 1:33.62 as the Bears’ Thackston McMullan placed second (1:35.32) and Harvard’s David Greeley was third (1:35.83).
The Golden Bears’ team of Battaglini, Okadome, Puggaard and Nans Mazellier finished first in the 200 medley relay in 1:22.33, with Battaglini blasting a 20.59 leadoff split and Okadome going 22.70 on breaststroke. UNLV placed second in 1:25.58 with Minnesota third (1:25.97). With Cal absent from the 800 free relay, the Harvard team of Greeley, Marre Gattnar, Sonny Wang and Evan Croley won in 6:27.91 over Minnesota (6:29.62) and Denver (6:38.44).
For the women, star Cal freshmen Teagan O’Dell and Claire Weinstein each picked up their second victories of the competition. O’Dell dominated the women’s 400 IM throughout but had to hold on down the stretch as teammate Alexa McDevitt charged. O’Dell clocked 4:08.14 to beat McDevitt (4:08.21) by seven hundredths, with the Bears’ Kathryn Hazel third (4:09.63).
Weinstein finished first in the 200 free in 1:43.06, about a half-second off her season-best mark of 1:42.52. Just behind was teammate Mia West (1:43.73) while Cal’s Ava Chavez finished third (1:45.62). Earlier in the session, West had been the winner in the 100 fly in 51.12, with teammate Annie Jia (51.50) and Harvard’s Kiley Wilhelm (51.78) among the top-three.
Cal’s Silje Slyngstadli was victorious in the 100 breast in 59.58 ahead of teammate Elle Scott (1:00.10) and Harvard’s Aliana Marakovic (1:01.15). The 100 back went to Cal’s Mary-Ambre Moluh in 50.61 ahead of O’Dell (52.05) and Minnesota’s Ava Yablonski (52.77).
Cal was again dominant in the relays, with Moluh, Slyngstadli, Jia and West winning the 200 medley in 1:34.88 ahead of Minnesota (1:38.10) and Rutgers (1:40.53). The 800 free relay was much tighter, but the Cal team of O’Dell, Camille Henveaux, Lilou Ressencourt and McDevitt held on to win in 7:06.44. Harvard, fueled by Wilhelm’s 1:44.44 anchor split, took second in 7:07.51, and Minnesota grabbed third (7:11.23).
