Week #1: U-M to Open Season with Louisville Tripleheader
10/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 4, 2016
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THIS WEEK
Friday, Oct. 7 -- vs. Louisville (Canham Natatorium), 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 8 -- vs. Louisville (Canham Natatorium), 10 a.m./4 p.m.
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The University of Michigan men's and women's swimming and diving teams open the 2016-17 season this weekend with a fun and unique twist on the collegiate dual meet, hosting Louisville for a tripleheader at Canham Natatorium. The first of three sessions will be held on Friday (Oct. 7) at 6 p.m., while the remaining two sessions will take place on Saturday (Oct. 8) at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Admission is free.
FORMAT
Each session will consist of nine events for men and women: six individual (distance freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, sprint freestyle, backstroke, individual medley), two relays (freestyle, medley) and one diving event.
To determine the distance for the swimming events, a die will be thrown twice during each session -- once an hour before the start of the meet and once again before diving. For example, on Friday, a 1 or 2 corresponds to the shortest distance, a 3 or 4 to the middle distance (and the 400-yard medley relay), and a 5 or 6 to the longest distance (and the 400-yard mixed medley relay). On Saturday morning, a 1, 2 or 3 corresponds to the shortest distance remaining, and a 4, 5 or 6 to the longest distance remaining.
Swimmers can be entered in three events with a maximum of two individual events. The event order is as follows:
• Medley Relay: 200, 400, Mixed 400
• Distance Freestyle: 500, 800, 1,000
• Butterfly: 50, 100, 200
• Breaststroke: 50, 100, 200
Teams will roll die again to determine distance for second half of session.
• Diving: 1M, 3M, Mixed Synchro
• Freestyle: 50, 100, 200
• Backstroke: 50, 100, 200
• Individual Medley: 100, 200, 400
• Freestyle Relay: 200, 400, 800
Scoring will be as follows:
• Individual Swimming Events (8): 11-8-7-6-5-4-3-1
• Diving (6): 11-8-7-6-5-3
• Mixed Synchro Diving (8): 11-8-7-6-5-4-3-1
• Relays (6): 22-16-14-12-10-6
• Mixed Medley Relay (8): 22-16-14-12-10-8-6-2)
The team that wins two of the three sessions will win the meet.
WOLVERINE BITES
• Michigan has won 52 consecutive dual meets, a stretch that dates back to November 2010. Since 2007, U-M is 78-4-1 in dual meets, including 49-1 against Big Ten opponents. Additionally, the Wolverines have won 29 consecutive home dual meets, with their last loss coming on Nov. 1, 2009, against Texas.
• The Wolverines return 22 letterwinners off last year's squad that won its sixth consecutive Big Ten title and finished 12th at the NCAA Championships. Three student-athletes won Big Ten individual titles last season: juniors Paul Powers (50-yard freestyle), PJ Ransford (1,650-yard freestyle) and Tristan Sanders (200-yard backstroke). Those three, plus senior Jack Mangan and juniors Aaron Whitaker and Evan White, individually qualified to the NCAA Championships, while Chris Klein, Vinny Tafuto and Mokhtar Al-Yamani went as relay swimmers or alternates. Excluding relays, Michigan returns 54 percent of its points from last year's Big Ten squad (642.5).
• There are 14 newcomers on the 2016-17 roster: Steven Anderson (Lake Forest, Calif.), Felix Auböck (Vienna, Austria), Jeremy Babinet (Redwood City, Calif.), Tommy Cope (Dayton, Ohio), Tim Hanson (Newport Beach, Calif.), Jake Herremans (Rockford, Mich.), James Jones (Fairfax, Va.), Alex King (Evansville, Ind.), Alex Martin (Moorestown, N.J.), Jacob Montague (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.), Miles Smachlo (Rexford, N.Y.), Charlie Swanson (Richmond, Va.), Rob Zofchak (Dexter, Mich.) and sophomore transfer Jon Burkett (Medford, N.J./North Carolina State).
• Freshman Felix Auböck represented Austria at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, finishing 18th in the 200-meter freestyle, 25th in the 400-meter freestyle and 42nd in the 1,500-meter freestyle.
• Last month, junior PJ Ransford was named to the U.S. National Team for the second consecutive year. He earned his spot by virtue of placing in the top-six in the 1,500-meter freestyle at Olympic Trials in June. He finished fifth.
• Freshmen Jacob Montague and Charlie Swanson were each named to the U.S. Junior National Team for the second consecutive year. Both student-athletes represented Team USA at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in August in Maui. Swanson won silver in the 400-meter IM and bronze in the 200-meter IM, while Montague won a pair of gold medals -- one on the 100-meter breaststroke and one as part of the 4x100-meter medley relay.
• Mike Bottom is in his ninth year at Michigan, holding dual-meet records of 70-3-1 (men) and 28-12 (women). Last year, he led the men's and women's teams to Big Ten titles and served as an assistant coach with Team USA at the Olympics in Rio. The coaching staff features two new assistants -- Sam Wensman, who was promoted to full-time after spending three years as a volunteer assistant; and Kristy Brager, who is in her first year at Michigan after coaching at Iowa for four years. Also on staff is new volunteer diving assistant Jamie Bissett, a former four-year diver at Purdue.
• Former men's swimming and diving head coach Jon Urbanchek was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletics Hall of Honor last Friday (Sept. 30). Urbanchek coached the men's team for 22 years (1982-2004), guiding the Wolverines to 13 Big Ten titles -- including 10 straight from 1986-95 -- and the 1995 national championship. Also a five-time assistant coach for the United States at the Olympics, Urbanchek is also enshrined in the International Swimming Hall of Fame. [ Induction Video | Photos ]
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Louisville -- Last season, the Cardinals finished 11th at the NCAA Championships and second at the ACC Championships. Their top swimmers include backstroker Grigory Tarasevich and breaststroker Carlos Claverie, both NCAA All-Americans and Olympians, representing Russia and Venezuela, respectively.
Michigan is 1-0 all-time against Louisville in dual meets. The only meeting between the two teams came as part of a tri-meet with Indiana and Texas on Oct. 24-25, 2014, with Michigan winning, 237-116.
UP NEXT
Saturday, Oct. 22 -- host Intrasquad/Alumni Meet (Canham Natatorium), 10:30 a.m.
Fri-Sat., Nov. 4-5 -- at Virginia, vs. Penn State (Charlottesville, Va.), 5 p.m./Noon
