The first night of competition from the 2017 Men's Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, Washington, is history. With only two events contested on Wednesday, the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay, this session was short but not lacking in action. Cal's 200 medley relay kicked off the meet with a bang by setting a new Pac-12 record with a smoking-fast 1:22.31, barely missing the NCAA and U.S. Open record of 1:22.27. The Bears followed suit in the 800 freestyle relay by breaking the Pac-12 meet record in 6:12.07, beating second-place Stanford by three seconds. The meet starts to get a little deeper on Thursday with the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 freestyle in the morning.

200 MEDLEY RELAY

Pac 12 Conference Record: 1:22.40 (California, 2015) 1:22.31 (California, 2017)
Pac 12 Meet Record: 1:23.50 (Arizona, 2014) 1:22.31 (California, 2017)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 1:25.05
2016 Invited: 1:25.76

Talk about speed... The California Golden Bears barely missed the NCAA and U.S. Open record of 1:22.27 in the 200 medley relay, unloading a 1:22.31. The squad of Ryan Murphy ​(20.78), Connor Hoppe ​(23.13), Justin Lynch ​(19.81), and Pawel Sendyk​ (18.59) cruised to victory by a full second over Arizona, good for a new Pac-12 record. This is now the fastest time in the country this season by a long shot. Arizona touched second with a 1.23.34, and Stanford rounded out the field in third with a 1:23.62. The scary thing about Cal's relay is that it can be faster. Murphy will be better than 20.7 at NCAAs, and we could potentially see the first 1:21 200 medley relay. Also of note, there were three butterfly splits under the 20-second mark at 19.81, 19.92, and 19.91 for Justin Lynch, Chad Idensohn, and Andrew Liang respectively. 
 
1.) California: 1:22.31 (PAC-12 RECORD)
2.) Arizona: 1:23.34 (NCAA 'A')
3.) Stanford: 1:23.62 (NCAA 'A')
4.) USC: 1:23.98 (NCAA 'A')
5.) Arizona State:1:24.08 (NCAA 'A')
6.) Utah: 1:25.45

800 FREESTYLE RELAY

Pac-12 Conference Record: 6:11.64 (USC, 2015)
Pac-12 Meet Record: 6:12.54 (USC, 2014)​ 6:12.07 (California, 2017)
NCAA 'A' Cut: 6:20.67
2016 Invited: 6:24.43

​Cal makes it 2 for 2 on the first night of competition, winning the 800 freestyle relay in a Pac-12 meet-record time of 6:12.07. This is the third-fastest time in the country this season, behind Florida's 6:11 and NC State's 6:09. Cal swam a very consistent relay with splits from ​Long Gutierrez ​(1:33.44), ​Andrew Seliskar (1:32.35), ​Michael Jensen​ (1:33.38), and ​Ryan Murphy ​(1:32.90). It will be interesting to see how this relay plays out on the first night of competition at NCAAs, when the top swimmers will be shaved, tapered, and fresh. Stanford takes the silver in 6:15.09 thanks to a great front-half from freshman ​Grant Shoults ​(1:33.36) and senior ​Tom Kremer​ (1:33.26). USC rounded out the podium in third with a 6:15.34 due in large part to ​Dylan Carter's​ 1:32.15 leadoff. 

1.) California: 6:12.07 (PAC-12 MEET RECORD)
2.) Stanford: 6:15.09
3.) USC: 6:15.34
4.) Arizona State: 6:17.44
5.) Arizona: 6:19.21
6.) Utah: 6:22.44
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