Claire Weinstein, Teagan O’Dell Open First College Invite With Wins in Minnesota
The last of the major midseason college invitational meets is taking place this weekend in Minneapolis, with the University of Minnesota welcoming a group of swimming programs highlighted by the California Golden Bears. On the meet’s first night of competition, Cal swimmers and relay teams placed first in nine out of 10 events, with several 1-2-3 finishes.
The Cal men were the runnerup team at last year’s NCAA Championships, continuing a national top-two streak that dates back to 2010, but the program graduated most of its top contributors entering the 2025-26 season. The Golden Bear women, however, could be resurgent this year with star freshmen Claire Weinstein and Teagan O’Dell leading the way. Both swimmers captured wins Thursday evening, with Weinstein getting first in the 500 freestyle and O’Dell topping the 200 IM.
Weinstein clocked 4:34.81 for the win in the 500 free, becoming the fourth-fastest swimmer in the country this year behind Texas’ Jillian Cox, Georgia’s Kennedi Dobson and Virginia’s Aimee Canny. Weinstein has been much quicker, however, with a best time of 4:29.38 set two years ago that made her one of only six women in history to swim under 4:30. In this race, Weinstein was followed by Cal teammates Ella Cosgrove (4:39.26) and Camille Henveaux (4:41.61).
O’Dell notched a time of 1:54.49 for first place in the 200 IM. O’Dell won a tight race with teammate Mia West, pulling into first place on backstroke and then hanging tough down the stretch. West was second in 1:54.77 with fellow Bear Elle Scott third (1:57.10). O’Dell now ranks No. 6 in the national rankings with West in the eighth spot. Notably, O’Dell swam a time of 1:53.38 in the event during her high school years, and the mark still stands as a national high school record.
Cal’s Mary-Ambre Moluh was the only swimmer under 22 in the 50 free, clocking 21.79 to beat out teammate Sydney Griscavage (22.13) and Minnesota’s Morgan Thomas (22.23). Moluh was also key to a victorious 400 medley relay, leading off in 50.92 on the backstroke leg before Silje Slyngstadli, Annie Jia and West rounded out the victory in 3:28.54. The Cal “B” team placed second in 3:31.96, and Minnesota finished third (3:36.43).
Cal’s top team was disqualified in the 200 free relay, but that did not stop the “B” group of Gracyn Aquino, Lilou Ressencourt, Charlotte Burham and Jia from scoring top points with a time of 1:29.26, three tenths ahead of Harvard’s 1:29.58. Minnesota placed just behind in 1:29.68.
For the men, freshman Ryan Erisman dominated the 500 free with a time of 4:12.78. New teammate Nathan Wiffen, the twin brother of Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen, came in second at 4:16.41while Cal’s Freddy Klein placed third (4:18.93). Another freshman came through in the 200 IM as Kenny Barnicle clocked 1:44.81 ahead of teammates Caiden Bowers (1:45.65) and Casper Puggaard (1:46.15).
Lucca Battaglini was the only swimmer to finish under 19 seconds in the 50 free, touching in 18.79. UNLV’s Bryson Huey took second (19.02) with Cal’s Evan Petty third (19.16). Battaglini also split 18.45 on Cal’s 200 free relay, teaming with Petty, Martin Wrede and Nans Mazellier to take the win in 1:15.74. The Bears’ “B” team (1:17.44) and Harvard (1:17.85) completed the top-three.
Cal did not enter a team in the 400 medley relay, and it was the Harvard team of Adriano Arioti, Joshua Chen, Maro Miknic and Sonny Wang taking the win in 3:09.23 ahead of Minnesota (3:10.21) and UNLV (3:10.57).
