Upcoming: No. 2 California

11/10, 1 p.m., Berkeley, California

Game Notes:

This Friday, fulfilling an annual November tradition, No. 4 Stanford men’s swimming will face No. 2 Cal in a triple distance meet in Berkeley, California. This low-stakes opportunity for the rivals to evaluate their relative strengths will challenge both teams as they near the end of highly successful fall seasons.

The triple distance format requires each swimmer to compete in three distances of the same stroke, with the best cumulative three-race time winning the event. This structure forces sprinters and long-distance to stroke outside their comfort zone, as most will swim 50-, 100- and 200-yard and 200-, 500- and 1,000-yard distances, respectively.

The Cardinal travel to Berkeley after dominating their one-day appearance at the Pacific Invitational on Oct. 27, earning 510 points to Denver’s 334.5, Pacific’s 285.5, BYU’s 202 and Fresno Pacific’s 134. Stanford made a similar splash on Oct. 20, topping Utah 141.5-95.5 even without the help of five-star swimmers who were aiding Pac-12 in defeating Team USA in Los Angeles.

Cal will compete in the wake of similar successes, having recently defeated the Pacific 158-100.5 and Utah 188.5-111.5. On top of these victories, seven Bears contributed to Pac-12’s victory over team U.S.A., and four competed for Team U.S.A., including gold-medal Olympian Tom Shields.

Last year in the unscored triple distance meet hosted by Stanford, Cal claimed all four overall events and both relays.

The meet will begin at 1 p.m. at the Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, California. The Cardinal will next compete when they conclude their fall season at the Texas Invitational in Austin, TX from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2.

Contact Sylvie Ashford at sylviash “at” stanford.edu