It was a dramatic way to end the third College Swimming League (CSL) match last week at Stanford University.
Entering the four-round men’s 4×50 medley relay Super Skins, Cal led the meet by just 5.5 points over Stanford, 473.5 to 468, but after the first three rounds, they had opened that lead up to 25.5 points.
The Bears and Cardinal were the last two teams remaining in the final round of the Super Skins, but a Cal meet victory was all but assured, barring a disqualification (or a loss of more than five seconds).
However, that’s exactly what occurred. After facing a large deficit after the backstroke leg, the Cal men fought back, slowly but surely clawing back into the race before touching first at the wall.
However, moments after the team’s finished, it was revealed that Cal’s breaststroker, reigning NCAA champion Yamato Okadome, had jumped early, resulting in a relay and overall meet victory for Stanford.
RACE VIDEO
Courtesy of College Swimming League on YouTube
The winning Stanford team was comprised of Ethan Ekk, Daniel Li, Ethan Harrington and Jonathan Tan. Their time in the head-to-head final was 1:29.36, but far their slowest of the four rounds due to the building fatigue, but it was enough to get the victory.
ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS
As reported by SwimSwam’s Madeline Folsom.
Round 1
- Cal — 1:24.96
- Stanford — 1:24.99
- Cal — 1:26.14
- Auburn — 1:26.62
- Ohio State — 1:26.81
- Auburn — 1:26.82
- Stanford — 1:26.88 **Eliminated
- Ohio State — 1:30.21 **Eliminated
Round 2
- Cal — 1:25.80
- Stanford — 1:26.40
- Auburn — 1:27.09
- Auburn — 1:27.29
- Cal — 1:27.81 **Eliminated
- Ohio State — 1:28.07 **Eliminated
Round 3
- Stanford — 1:27.49
- Cal — 1:27.67
- Auburn — 1:27.86 **Eliminated
- Auburn — 1:30.26 **Eliminated
Round 4
- Stanford — 1:29.36
- Cal — Disqualified
The result gave Stanford the match victory by just 6.5 points, 550-543.5, with Auburn placing 3rd and Ohio State in 4th.
Final Team Scores – CSL Match 3
- Stanford — 550
- Cal — 543.5
- Auburn — 371.5
- Ohio State — 255
The College Swimming League (CSL) kicked off on Sept. 23, and will continue with its fourth match on Friday, Oct. 9 in Knoxville, Tenn. Read more here.
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