By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
2026 Gary Ota Memorial Invitational
October 16-17, 2026 Fresno State Aquatics Center, Fresno, California Short Course Yards (25 yards) Full Meet Results (PDF)Fresno State’s Jenna Pulkkinen kicked off her senior campaign last weekend with an early sub-minute swim in the 100 yard breaststroke at the Gary Ota Invitational.
The meet was hosted by Fresno State and named after former Fresno State assistant Gary Ota, who died last year. Ota had a 63-year coaching career in California.
Pulkkinen snagged wins in both the 100 breast (59.76) and the 200 breast (2:11.00), plus the 100 IM.
She flexed her versatility by also swimming a leadoff leg on Fresno State’s winning 400 free relay, where she split 49.87.
That time shows a massive leap forward from this same season opener last year, where she was 1:02.83 and 2:20.35 in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, respectively. In fact, her 100 breast time from last weekend is just a tenth away from her time at last year’s Mountain West Championships, where she finished 4th.
All three of the swimmers ahead of her graduated. That includes her teammates Mackenzie Lung (58.17) and Aliz Kalmar (59.76), plus Washington State’s Emily Lundgren (59.42). That clears the path for Pulkkinen to win a conference title this year. If she does so in a time faster than 1:00.41, she would earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.
Houston’s Evelyn Entrekin finished 2nd in 1:00.08. That’s two seconds better than her debut from last season.
The other top performance from this year’s Ota Memorial Invite came from San Diego State junior Kaydence Bispo. She won the 200 free in 1:46.54, which is a lifetime best for her. Her previous fastest swim came at her last short course meet – the Mountain West Championships – where she swam 1:47.30 to place 4th.
The difference was her finishing speed – of the .76 second improvement, .60 of it came over the final 50 yards.
She now ranks 2nd in school history in the 200 free behind only Wilma Johnson’s school record of 1:46.24 from 2025.
Improved endurance showed up elsewhere in her meet as well. She finished 4th in the 500 free in 4:58.40. While not typically a championship event for her, she typically races it a few times each season and this was a lifetime best by more than seven seconds.
Bispo also won the 100 free in 50.43 and finished 2nd in the 50 free in 22.54.
Team Standings
San Diego State – 1,090.5 Houston – 1,072.5 Fresno State – 772 UC Davis – 540 San Jose State – 518Other Notable Results
San Diego State’s Ginger Kiefer finished 2nd in the 200 fly in 1:59.96, which was her first time under 2 minutes in the race. Her teammate Allison Mann won in 1:58.73, which was also a lifetime best for her. Kiefer is a senior and Mann is a junior. That was one of five event wins (including relays) for Mann at the meet to lead all swimmers. Several swimmers set personal bests in the 50 free. In addition to Pulkkinen, San Diego State’s Camille Seiley finished 4th in 22.67, Houston’s Elizabeth Garrido finished 6th in 22.78, and San Jose State’s Dalton Sickon finished 7th in 22.82. Houston’s Alexia Duncan won the 100 back in 53.59, the 200 back in 1:58.02, and the 200 IM in 1:59.83. She also posted lifetime bests leading off both the 200 free relay (23.90) and 200 medley relay (25.19). She is the defending Big 12 Champion in the 100 back and an NCAA qualifier from last season.Read the full story on SwimSwam: Fresno State’s Jenna Pulkkinen Opens the Season with a Sub-1:00 Breaststroke Swim at Ota Memorial Invite
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