Under the guidance of legendary head coach Chris Kjeldsen, the 1949-50 Pacific men's swimming team lodged an undefeated dual meet season as an independent powerhouse.
Members of that team included head coach Chris Kjeldsen, Bob Brown, Dick Cullenward, Don Driggs, Morrie Green, Wayne LaVelle, Bill McMillan, Chuck Moore, Ken Mork, Gene Nyquist, Frank Poucher, Bob Sherman, John Stebbins and Bob Steel.
Pacific opened its dual meet season with a dominating 59-16 victory over San Jose State, a team that went on to win the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship that year.
During a season-ending battle of unbeatens, Pacific defeated Stanford, the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference champion, by 16 points in front of an overflow home crowd to decide Northern California swimming dominance. At the Stanford meet, the medley relay team of Poucher (backstroke), Stebbins (breaststroke)Â and Steel (freestyle) dashed off to a new school record. The four-man relay team of Driggs, LaVelle, Brown, and Steel also turned in a new school record, while Stebbins set a new school mark individually in the 200-yard breaststroke
The Tigers qualified four swimmers for the NCAA Championships at Ohio State University. The 300-yard medley relay team of Poucher, Stebbins, and Steel gained All-America recognition in that event. Cullenward placed sixth individually in the 1,500-yard freestyle, also earning All-America status for the Tigers. In addition, Cullenward entered the 220- and 440-yard freestyle, Poucher entered the 150-yard backstroke, Stebbins swam the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, and Steel competed in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships.
Over the course of the 1949-50 season, Green and Sherman competed as divers for the Tigers, Moore and McMillan were breaststrokers, and Nyquist and Mork were backstrokers.
