Cal senior swimmer Tom Shields (Edison) captured the 200-yard butterfly in 1 minute, 41.23 seconds to help the Golden Bears capture the Pac-12 men’s title at Federal Way, Wash., ending Stanford’s legendary 31-year streak of winning the conference titles.
Cal scored 825 points to outdistance runner-up Stanford at 800. USC took third with 638.5.
Photo courtesy of Cal swimming
Cal senior swimmer Tom Shields (Edison) won the 100-yard butterfly (44.92 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (46.12) and gave his team the lead for good in the third leg of the 400 medley relay to help the Golden Bears open a 583-520 lead against Stanford at the Pac-12 swim championships in Federal Way, Wash. on Tuesday.
The meet concludes on Wednesday, and it could be a huge victory for the Shields and his teammates.
Stanford has captured 31 consecutive conference titles.
Former Edison swimmer Tom Shields, pictured far left, edged Ryan Lochte for the silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly at the FINA short-course World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday.
The Cal senior out-touched Lochte by five one-hundredths of a second to finish in 49.54, about three-quarter of a second behind winner Chad Le Clos of South Africa.
Le Clos tied for the silver behind Michael Phelps in the 100-meter fly at the London Games earlier this year but edged Phelps for gold in the 200 fly final.
A few swim teams in Orange County can take in pride in Shields.
Former Mission Viejo High standout Chad La Tourette set the American record in the 1,650-yard freestyle Saturday night while ex-Edison standout Tom Shields helped Cal claim the team title at the NCAA Division 1 championships in Seattle.
La Tourette finished second but established a new American standard with a time of 14 minutes, 24.35 seconds, breaking Chris Thompson’s legendary 2001 record by just over two seconds. Georgia’s Martin Grodzki edged La Tourette with a time of 14:24.08.
Shields placed second in the 200-yard butterfly.
More boys swimming news from the OCVarsity blog:
More girls swimming news from the OCVarsity blog:
Ex-Edison standout swimmer Tom Shields captured the 100-yard butterfly (44.76 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (44.86) for Cal in an impressive effort at the NCAA Division 1 championships in Seattle on Friday night.
Shields won the butterfly for the second time in three seasons but showed the most progress in the backstroke.
Seeded sixth going into the dorsal final, Shields defended his title by dropping about 1 1/2 seconds from his prelim time and missed Ryan Lochte’s American record by just under three-tenths of a second.
Shields and Cal lead the team competition heading into Saturday’s final day.
Photo courtesy of Mike Lewis, from 2012 Pac-12 championships on March 3
Edison graduate and Cal junior-to-be Tom Shields rallied in the final lap to claim the silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly at the World University Games in China on Wednesday night.
Shields was seventh at the 50 but charged to the wall to touch in 52.62 — about half-a-second behind fellow American Tim Phillips (52.06).
Shields’ time ranks him eighth among American men this year and 25th in the world rankings.
More boys swimming news from the OCVarsity blog:
Edison graduate Tom Shields captured the 100-yard backstroke in 45.02 seconds and finished second in the 100 butterfly in 44.91 seconds to help Cal’s men’s swim team open a 63.5 point lead at the NCAA Division 1 championships at Minnesota on Friday night.
The sophomore also led off the 800 freestyle with a 1:32.75 split for the 200, helping Cal finish fifth.
Shields finished second to rival Austin Staab of Stanford in the fly by just over two tenths of a second. 
On Saturday, Shields’ individual event will be the 200 fly, his NCAA record event.
New national record holder: Edison swimmer Tom Shields talks about setting the national high school record in 200-yard freestyle during the CIF Division I swim prelims at Mt. SAC in Walnut on May 13, 2009. Video by Dan Albano, OCVarsity.com.
Edison’s Tom Shields has just smashed the national high school record in the 200-yard freestyle with a blazing time of 1 minute, 33.83 seconds here at the Division I swim prelims at Mt. SAC in Walnut.
Shields smashed the national public record – and also Orange County record – of Eric Diehl of Mission Viejo – who had a 1:35.35 in 1991.
He also easily took down the national private school record of 1:34.96 .
“I was going for it but not by that much,” a surprised Shields said. “I never thought I could go that fast this year.”
Shields was his typical classy himself afterward – calm fist pump, hugged swimmer Jon Daniec of Mission Viejo when he climbed out of the pool and waved a few times to the crowd.
Awesome swim!
Wearing traditional trunks, Edison’s Tom Shields has captured the 200 free in 1:37.70 here at the Sunset League swim finals at Newport Harbor – about two seconds off the national public school record by Eric Diehl in 1991.
Shields wore a full-body suit in the medley relay but said afterward that it had ripped.
Before the 200, Shields said, “Eric Diehl did it (in trunks)… (it’s) my turn.”
Look for Shields to challenge Diehl’s mark again at the Division I final.
If I posted this Wednesday, some might indeed believe it was an April Fools joke. But Tom Shields really did take fourth in the breaststroke (lifetime-best 1:03.85) today against Fountain Valley. The breaststroke is his weakest high school event but I give him credit for taking the challenge. The Barons’ strength in the breaststroke, and Shields certainly knew that.
FV knew the deal too but the Barons still soaked in a victory that they will remember for a long time – even more so if Shields goes onto great things in the pool. “Even though that’s not his race (the breaststroke) ….he’s still Tom Shields,” breaststroke winner Kevin Miller of Fountain Valley said.
RELATED:
LATEST OCVARSITY VIDEOS Media Partners :
KOCE |
MSNBC |
OCExcelsior |
Home Magazine |
Coast Magazine |
Preferred Destinations Magazine |
KPCC |
KMEX |
NguoiViet |
RSS Feed 
|
Contact us |
Privacy policy |
User agreement |
Corrections |
Career opportunities |
Advertise with us |
About us|
Archives |
Homes
Cars |
Jobs |
OC Single Scene |
California Lottery |
Register Insiders |
Register in Education |
Buy our Photos |
Feedback |
Local Businesses |
OC H.S. Sports
Slideshow: Hot Shots Overtime 1: Friday's Division 2 baseball games (5-17-13)
Slideshow: Hot Shots Overtime 2: Friday's Division 4 and 6 baseball games (5-17-13)
Slideshow: Hot Shots Overtime: CIF Track and Field Finals (5-18-13)
Slideshow: OCVarsity Hot Shots: Friday's baseball playoffs (5-17-13)
