Franklin and Cal Women Upset by USC, Bounce Back Against UCLA

It’s hard to imagine that any team coached by Teri McKeever and headlined by Missy Franklin would ever lose in a dual meet, but such is the format of collegiate swimming, where a rounded out team is more powerful than any swimming starlet, no matter how high her wattage may be.

The University of California Golden bears – who top the power rankings of Division 1 teams – were trounced by the USC Trojans in Los Angeles last weekend, with the hosts taking the Bears to task, winning by over 60 points – 180.5 to 119.5. The Cal women won only 4 of the 16 events.

The lady Bears, who went into the away meet undefeated in dual meets so far, were riding the success of having beat Arizona by over 80 points the week before.

Missy Franklin had one individual win, and in an event that she very rarely competes in – the 1000 yard freestyle, where she’d win in a season best 9:47.44, while also placing 5^th fastest all time within the women Cal’s ranks of history.

The following day the Cal women traveled cross-town to swim against the Bruins at UCLA, where they would atone for the previous day and get back to their winning ways.

Liz Pelton would lead the charge, leading a sweep of the 100 yard backstroke (54.24). They would also sweep the 400 IM, and place 1-2 in the 200 medley relay. To close the meet they would win the 200 yard free relay, with the squad of Franklin, Kaylin Bing, Farida Osman and Cindy Tran breaking the 2009 meet record of 1:31.49 by swimming a 1:30.87.

Cal would win the dual meet by reversing the score from the previous day, beating UCLA 180-120 in their second to last dual meet of the season.

In an interview with the Daily Cal, head women’s coach McKeever had this to say—

“Yesterday, I felt we got caught on our heels, and today we were in a much better place, taking care of our own business and doing what we need to do,” McKeever said. “For the most part, I am really pleased with the results.”