Maize & Blue Wraps NCAA Championships in Fifth Place

Saturday, March 24

Federal Way, Wash.

11:00 AM

Michigan

NCAA Championships

3/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

March 24, 2012

• Photo Gallery | Dan Madwed Interview (YouTube)

Site: Federal Way, Wash. (Weyerhaeuser Aquatic Center)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 3 of 3)
U-M Team Result: 5th Place (271 points)
Next U-M Event: Season Complete

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Behind final-day All-America swims from sophomore Connor Jaeger (Rumson, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven), sophomore Sean Ryan (Hixson, Tenn./McCallie School) and senior Dan Madwed (Stamford, Conn./Towson), the University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team wrapped a fifth-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Championships on the final day of competition Saturday (March 24) inside the Weyerhaeuser Aquatic Center.

U-M was led by a third-place from finish from Jaeger and a sixth-place swim from Ryan in the mile, as well as a fifth-place honor for Madwed in the 200-yard butterfly. The finish is the highest U-M national placing since 2004 (fifth) and nine Wolverines collected a total of 22 All-America citations during the three-day event.

Michigan got its night session started in a big way, with Jaeger taking third in the fastest 1,650-yard freestyle heat in NCAA history, as both Martin Grodzki of Georgia (14.24.08) and Chad La Tourette of Stanford (14.24.35) broke former Michigan swimmer Chris Thompson's NCAA record of 14:26.62. Ryan aided the Michigan effort with a sixth-place finish time of 14:41.92, while junior Ryan Feeley (Rye, N.Y./Rye) took 15th in the event with a 14:54.63 as Michigan earned 31 team points in the race.

Madwed made it back-to-back-to-back All-America honors in the 200-yard butterfly in his final individual collegiate race. He sat in second after 75 yards, before California's Will Hamilton and Tom Shields finished 1-2 in the race, led by Hamilton's 1:40.94. Madwed placed fifth with a 1:42.61.

Sophomore John Wojciechowski (Scottsdale, Ariz./Phoenix Brophy) rounded out the individual scores for the Maize and Blue in the 200-yard butterfly on the final day of action, winning the 'B' final with a time of 1:43.73 after qualifying 10th in the event in prelims (1:44.14).

U-M completed its NCAA Championships with a ninth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, Madwed anchored in his final collegiate race. The senior co-captain combined with freshman Bruno Ortiz (Tokyo, Japan/St. Mary's International), junior Miguel Ortiz (Tokyo, Japan/St. Mary's International) and junior Sean Fletcher (Vienna, Va./James Madison) to clock a 2:52.23.

Michigan concludes its 2011-12 campaign with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships to go along with its 36th Big Ten championship and undefeated (9-0, 4-0 Big Ten) dual-meet record. Many of the Wolverines will now pursue their Olympic dreams at their respective Olympic Trials, beginning with the Canadian Olympic Trials, to be held March 27 through April 1 in Montreal. The United States Olympic trials run June 25-July 2 in Omaha, Neb.

Final Team Standings

 1. California       535.5 2. Texas            491 3. Stanford         426.5 4. Arizona          396 5. MICHIGAN         271 6. Auburn           254.5 7. USC              192 8. Florida          157 9. Louisville       15610. Indiana          140

Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day Three)
Preliminary time listed in parenthesis if faster than final

1,650-yard Freestyle  1. Martin Grodzki, Georgia        14:24.08+$  3. Connor Jaeger, U-M             14:35.14  6. Sean Ryan, U-M                 14:41.92 15. Ryan Feeley, U-M               14:54.63      200-yard Backstroke  1. Cory Chitwood, Arizona          1:39.66      100-yard Freestyle  1. James Feigen, Texas               41.95 26. Miguel Ortiz, U-M                 43.57       200-yard Breaststroke  1. Carlos Almeida, Louisville      1:51.88 17. Richard Funk, U-M               1:56.45       200-yard Butterfly  1. Will Hamilton, California       1:40.94  5. Dan Madwed, U-M                 1:42.61  9. John Wojciechowski, U-M         1:43.7317t. Kyle Whitaker, U-M              1:44.63      Platform Diving  1. Benjamin Grado, Arizona          487.25      400-yard Freestyle Relay  1. Texas                           2:49.83  9. Michigan                        2:52.23    (Bruno Ortiz, Miguel Ortiz Sean Fletcher, Dan Madwed)        $ Championship Record + American record

• Previous Results: Day Two | Day One

Michigan All-Americans (9 Wolverines/23 honors)
Connor Jaeger (3): 500-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle relay, 1,650-yard freestyle
Kyle Whitaker (3): 200-yard individual medley, 400-yard individual medley, 800-yard freestyle relay
Sean Ryan (2): 500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle
Bruno Ortiz (2): 400-yard medley relay, 200-yard medley relay
Miguel Ortiz (2): 400-yard medley relay, 200-yard medley relay
Dan Madwed (5): 400-yard medley relay, 200-yard medley relay, 100-yard butterfly, 800-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard butterfly
Sean Fletcher (3): 400-yard medley relay, 200-yard medley relay, 800-yard freestyle relay*
Michael Wynalda (2): 200-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle relay
Evan Gregg (1): 200-yard medley relay*

Michigan Honorable Mention All-Americans (8 Wolverines/14 honors)
Dan Madwed (2): 200-yard individual medley, 400-yard freestyle relay
Miguel Ortiz (3): 200-yard freestyle relay, 100-yard backstroke, 400-yard freestyle relay
Bruno Ortiz (2): 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay
Sean Fletcher (3): 200-yard freestyle relay, 100-yard butterfly, 400-yard freestyle relay
Evan Gregg (1): 200-yard freestyle relay
Michael Wynalda (1): 400-yard freestyle relay*
John Wojciechowski (1): 200-yard butterfly
Ryan Feeley (1): 1,650-yard freestyle

*attained All-America status after swimming preliminary race leg

N O T E S

• With its fifth-place finish, Michigan has now finished in the top 13 in each of the last 14 seasons.

• Michigan's top-five finish is the highest since 2004, when the Wolverines also took fifth.

• The No. 5 finish is the highest finish for the squad in Mike Bottom's four-year tenure as head coach.

• Seven of the 14 swimmers at this year's championships swam for the first time on the national stage. In total, the seven newcomers earned U-M eight All-America citations.

• The five All-America citations on the meet give Madwed 14 honors for his career.

• Fletcher's trio of All-America honorable mentions gives him a total of 11 on his career.

• Dan Madwed earned All-America status in the 200-yard butterfly for the third straight season. He placed fifth at the 2010 national championships, sixth at the 2011 championships and took fifth in the 2012 version of NCAAs.

• U-M's 400-yard freestyle relay earned All-America status (honorable mention) for the third time under fourth-year head coach Mike Bottom. The Wolverines placed ninth after finishing sixth in 2009 and seventh in 2011.

• John Wojciechowski earned All-America honorable mention for his ninth-place finish in the 200-butterfly after not qualifying for the NCAA Championships a year ago as a freshman.

• Jaeger shaved nearly eight seconds off his career-best time (14:43.64) in the event with his 14:35.14 in the 1,650-yard freestyle. The time makes Jaeger the fourth-fastest performer in the event in program history, behind Olympians Chris Thompson, Tom Dolan and Peter Vanderkaay.

• Ryan Feeley's 15th-place mile finish marks the second consecutive year that he earned All-America honorable mention, while Ryan's sixth-place mile finish gives him back-to-back All-America honors in the race.

• All-America citations are earned by swimmers who swim in preliminary relay legs on relay teams, but not the finals race, that attain All-America status. Michael Wynalda (400-yard freestyle), Evan Gregg (200-yard medley relay), and Sean Fletcher (800-yard freestyle), are examples.