They took up much of the bleacher space along one side of the University Aquatic Center, dressed in blue and gold and hollering nonstop. Damir Dugonjic heard them loud and clear, and the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint all those California alumni and fans who showed up at the NCAA men's swimming and diving championships.
The Cal senior obliged them Friday with his third consecutive title in the 100-yard breaststroke. Teammate Tom Shields also did his part, winning the 100 backstroke and finishing second in the 100 butterfly, and the 200 medley relay defended its NCAA title. As a group, they gave their followers something to really yell about: a 63.5-point lead in the team standings.
The Bears racked up 218 points Friday to break open a tight team race, giving them 352 total points heading into the final day of competition Saturday. After Thursday's opening day, they stood in third place with 134 points, behind Texas (139) and Stanford (136). Friday, Cal qualified eight swimmers for the evening finals -- twice as many as Texas, Stanford and fellow contenders Arizona and Florida -- and got the swims it needed to put it in position for its first team title since 1980.
Texas is second with 288.5 points, and Stanford is third with 278.5. The Gophers stand in 14th place with 68 points after getting solid performances from Ivan Gutesa, who finished eighth in the 100 breast, and Drew Brown, 13th in 3-meter diving. They also got points in the 200 medley relay (11th place) and the 800 freestyle relay (15th).
Purdue diver David Boudia had an exciting night, too, winning on the 3-meter springboard as he tries to become the first man to sweep the three diving events in the same year. But nobody had more fun than Cal, whose only NCAA team titles came in 1979 and 1980.
"Everyone wants it," said Dugonjic, who won the 100 breast in 50.94 seconds, the second-best time in history behind his record of 50.86. "Our alumni, especially. There are hundreds of them here, and they keep the team going.
"We don't just swim for us. Everyone at Cal wants us to win, and we want it, too."
Cal features an international lineup, with swimmers from Estonia, Slovenia, Canada, Denmark, Israel, Poland and South Africa supplementing eight native Californians. The Bears kicked off the evening with a comfortable victory in the 200 medley relay, beating Texas by more than a second. Dugonjic and Nathan Adrian played key roles as the foursome set a pool record of 1:23.12 and earned 40 points, vaulting the Bears into first place in the team standings by a single point over Texas.
