Season Review: 2015-16 Michigan Men's Swimming and Diving
5/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
May 11, 2016
• Team Captains: Dylan Bosch, Nick Killeen, Anders Lie Nielsen
• Dual-Meet Record: 11-0 (6-0 Big Ten)
• Big Ten Championships: 1st (1,475.5 points)
• NCAA Championships: 12th (118 points)
Another year, another Big Ten Conference title for the University of men's swimming and diving team. The 2015-16 season marked the sixth consecutive title for the Maize and Blue, matching the longest streak since 1990-95. In fact, Michigan became the first Big Ten program to win conference titles in both men's and women's swimming and diving in the same year since 1997 (Michigan).
The Wolverines went 11-0 during the dual-meet season (6-0 in the Big Ten) for their fifth consecutive undefeated season.
Though the team's 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships was disappointing (it was the first non-top-10 finish since 2000), three individuals claimed NCAA All-America honors, including senior captains Dylan Bosch and Anders Lie Nielsen. The final holdovers from the program's last national championship in 2013, the duo concluded their college careers having combined for 19 Big Ten titles and 23 total All-America honors. Bosch, in particular, graduated with a noteworthy achievement, as he became the first Big Ten swimmer in history to win four consecutive conference titles in the 200-yard butterfly.
Team Highlights
• Michigan once again led wire-to-wire to win its sixth consecutive Big Ten title, held Feb. 24-27 in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is the program's longest streak since 1990-95 under Jon Urbanchek. The victory came one week after the U-M women's swimming and diving team also won the Big Ten championship, making Michigan the first Big Ten team to win both conference titles since it did it back in 1997.
• The Wolverines went 11-0 in dual meets this season, their fifth consecutive undefeated season. In those five years, U-M is 47-0, including a perfect 28-0 against Big Ten opponents. In the 95-year history of the program, Michigan had never gone undefeated in five straight seasons.
• The program is guaranteed to make an appearance at its 18th consecutive Olympic Games, as alumnus Sean Ryan (2011-14) qualified in the open water competition. Other members of the 2015-16 squad are likely to make Olympic appearances (pending official announcements), including Dylan Bosch (South Africa), Anders Lie Nielsen (Denmark) and Mokhtar Al-Yamani (Yemen).
• In the classroom, 22 student-athletes received Academic All-Big Ten recognition, more than 75 percent of those eligible on the team.
Individual Highlights
• Senior Dylan Bosch concluded his collegiate career as one of the best to ever swim in the Big Ten Conference. In his four-year career, he medaled in all 12 of his individual races at the Big Ten Championships, including eight titles, three second-place finishes and one third-place finish. Bosch is the only swimmer in Big Ten history to win four consecutive conference titles in the 200-yard butterfly. He graduates as an NCAA champion (2014: 200-yard butterfly), a 13-time NCAA All-American and an 11-time Big Ten champion.
• Sophomore Paul Powers made a big jump forward this season as the team's top sprint freestyler. He repeated as Big Ten champion in the 50-yard freestyle -- the first U-M men's swimmer to do that since William Groft (1965-66) -- setting U-M, Big Ten and Big Ten Championships records (18.85). He became the first swimmer in program history and second in Big Ten history to eclipse the 19-second barrier in the race. Powers also claimed NCAA All-America honors in the event for the second consecutive year, finishing fifth.
• Senior Anders Lie Nielsen added to his list of career accolades in his final collegiate season, winning a Big Ten title and earning an NCAA All-America honor in the 500-yard freestyle. Nielsen is one of the more versatile freestyle swimmers in program history, leaving ranked No. 2 in the 200-yard freestyle, No. 4 in both the 100-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, and No. 7 in the 1,000-yard freestyle. He even showed his sprint ability, claiming an additional NCAA All-America honor as part of the team's 200-yard freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships.
• Sophomore PJ Ransford captured the Big Ten title in the 1,650-yard freestyle in dominant fashion, lapping six of his seven opponents to win the race by more than 25 seconds. He is ranked No. 5 on the school's all-time list for that event, and the men ahead of him are all former Olympians: Chris Thompson, Connor Jaeger, Tom Dolan and Peter Vanderkaay. Ransford also earned high marks in the classroom, as he was one of 12 student-athletes across the Big Ten in winter sports to have an unblemished cumulative GPA.
• One of the more inspiring performances at the Big Ten Championships came from sophomore Tristan Sanders, who captured the individual championship in the 200-yard backstroke. He became the first Michigan swimmer to win that event since Tyler Clary in 2010.
• Watch: Bosch | Powers | Ransford | Sanders
Honors and Awards
Dylan
Bosch
Anders
Lie Nielsen
Paul
Powers
PJ
Ransford
Tristan
Sanders
Mike
Bottom
NCAA All-America
Dylan Bosch (100-yard Butterfly, 200-yard Butterfly)
Paul Powers (50-yard Freestyle)
Anders Lie Nielsen (500-yard Freestyle)
200-yard Freestyle Relay -- Jeremy Raisky, Vinny Tafuto, Peter Brumm, Tristan Sanders, Paul Powers (prelims), Aaron Whitaker (prelims), Anders Lie Nielsen (prelims)
800-yard Freestyle Relay -- Anders Lie Nielsen, Peter Brumm, Jack Mangan, Dylan Bosch
NCAA All-America Honorable Mention
Anders Lie Nielsen (100-yard Freestyle, 200-yard Freestyle)
PJ Ransford (500-yard Freestyle, 1,650-yard Freestyle)
Evan White (200-yard Butterfly)
Dylan Bosch (200-yard IM)
400-yard Freestyle Relay -- Paul Powers, Anders Lie Nielsen, Peter Brumm, Tristan Sanders
200-yard Medley Relay -- Aaron Whitaker, Chris Klein, Jeremy Raisky, Paul Powers
400-yard Medley Relay -- Aaron Whitaker, Chris Klein, Evan White, Paul Powers, Dylan Bosch (prelims)
Big Ten Individual Champions
Dylan Bosch (200-yard Butterfly, 200-yard IM, 400-yard IM)
Anders Lie Nielsen (500-yard Freestyle)
PJ Ransford (1,650-yard Freestyle)
Paul Powers (50-yard Freestyle)
Tristan Sanders (200-yard Backstroke)
Big Ten Relay Champions
200-yard Medley Relay -- Jason Chen, Chris Klein, Jeremy Raisky Paul Powers
800-yard Freestyle Relay -- Anders Lie Nielsen, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Jack Mangan, Dylan Bosch
Big Ten Awards
Swimmer of the Championships: Dylan Bosch
All-Big Ten (First Team): Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Dylan Bosch, Jason Chen, Chris Klein, Jack Mangan, Anders Lie Nielsen, Paul Powers, Jeremy Raisky, PJ Ransford, Tristan Sanders
All-Big Ten (Second Team): Vinny Tafuto, Aaron Whitaker, Evan White
Sportsmanship Honoree: Will Raynor
Big Ten Weekly Awards
Swimmer of the Week: Ian Rainey (Oct. 7); Dylan Bosch (Nov. 4, Jan. 20); Chris Klein (Jan. 6); Anders Lie Nielsen (Feb. 3); Mokhtar Al-Yamani (Feb. 18)
Freshman of the Week: Mokhtar Al-Yamani (Feb. 18)
Academic All-Big Ten
Dylan Bosch, Sr., sport management
Peter Brumm, Sr., chemical engineering
Paul Corbae, Sr., engineering physics
Colin Eaton, Jr., biomedical engineering
Aaron Ghiglieri, Sr., anthropology
Jackson Goethe, Jr., biopsychology, cognition & neuroscience
Nick Killeen, Sr., business administration
Chris Klein, Jr., mechanical engineering
Keltan Lawler, Sr., sociology
Anders Lie Nielsen, Sr., psychology
Jack Mangan, Jr., economics
Paul Powers, So., engineering
Ian Rainey, So., LSA/undeclared
Jeremy Raisky, Sr., neuroscience
PJ Ransford, So., mechanical engineering
Will Raynor, Sr., screen arts & cultures
Tristan Sanders, So., LSA/undeclared
Ryan Sebastian, So., mechanical engineering
Paul Soley, Sr., psychology
Cameron Stitt, Jr., chemical engineering
Vinny Tafuto. Jr., sport management
Matt Zimmerman, Sr., political science
Communications Contact: Brad Rudner
Players Mentioned
