Michigan
NCAA Championships
U-M to Wrap Season at NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
3/25/2019 1:03:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
» The NCAA Championships will take place Wednesday through Saturday (March 27-30) at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
» Preliminaries will begin at 10 a.m. CDT, with finals following at 6 p.m. ESPN3 will stream finals sessions each night.
» The Wolverines finished eighth last year and will have a roster of 15 student-athletes at the meet (11 swimmers, two divers, two relay-only swimmers).
THIS WEEK
Wed-Sat., March 27-30 -- at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas), 10 a.m./6 p.m. CDT
Championships Central | Live Results: Swimming | Diving
Live Video: All Preliminaries, Diving Consolation Finals
Live Video (Finals on ESPN3): Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team wraps up its 2018-19 season this week at the NCAA Championships, to be held Wednesday through Saturday (March 27-30) at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas. Preliminaries will begin at 10 a.m. CDT, with finals following at 6 p.m. CDT.
The Wolverines are sending 15 student-athletes (11 swimmers, two divers, two relay-only swimmers) and will have all five relays in action during the four-day meet. The team is comprised of senior Mokhtar Al-Yamani; juniors Felix Auböck, Jeremy Babinet, Tommy Cope, Jake Herremans, Jacob Montague, Miles Smachlo and Charlie Swanson; sophomores Luiz Gustavo Borges, Ross Todd and Ricardo Vargas; and freshmen Patrick Callan and Will Chan. In addition to the individual qualifiers, redshirt sophomore Alex King will be part of the 200- and 400-yard medley relays, and junior James Jones will go as a relay alternate.
ESPN3.com will live stream finals sessions on Wednesday through Saturday. Preliminary sessions on Thursday through Saturday will be streamed live on www.texassports.com. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour show at 7 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 8.
Michigan Schedule and Invited Participants
Wednesday, March 27 (6 p.m. CDT)
800-yard Freestyle Relay
Thursday, March 28 (Prelims at 10 a.m. CDT, Finals at 6 p.m. CDT)
200-yard Freestyle Relay
500-yard Freestyle -- Felix Auböck, Ricardo Vargas, Patrick Callan
200-yard Individual Medley -- Charlie Swanson, Tommy Cope
50-yard Freestyle -- Luiz Gustavo Borges
One-Meter Diving (12:15 p.m. CDT) -- Jake Herremans, Ross Todd
400-yard Medley Relay
Friday, March 29 (Prelims at 10 a.m. CDT, Finals at 6 p.m. CDT)
100-yard Butterfly -- Miles Smachlo
400-yard Individual Medley -- Charlie Swanson, Ricardo Vargas, Tommy Cope
200-yard Freestyle -- Felix Auböck, Patrick Callan, Mokhtar Al-Yamani
100-yard Breaststroke -- Jeremy Babinet, Will Chan
200-yard Medley Relay
Saturday, March 30 (Prelims at 10 a.m. CDT, Finals at 6 p.m. CDT)
1,650-yard Freestyle -- Felix Auböck, Ricardo Vargas
100-yard Freestyle -- Luiz Gustavo Borges
200-yard Breaststroke -- Charlie Swanson, Tommy Cope, Jeremy Babinet, Jacob Montague
200-yard Butterfly -- Miles Smachlo
Platform Diving (12:15 p.m. CDT) -- Ross Todd
400-yard Freestyle Relay
Scoring Format
The top eight times (places 1-8) in each preliminary race, including relays, will advance to the evening's finals and earn NCAA All-America (the only exception is the 1,650-yard freestyle, which is a timed final). The next eight times (places 9-16) will swim in the 'B' final and earn NCAA All-America honorable mention. The top 16 finishers will score points for their team.
NCAA Championships Tidbits
History:Â U-M has won 12 NCAA championships (1937-41, 1948, 1957-59, 1961, 1995, 2013), the second-most of any collegiate swimming and diving program behind Texas, which is the four-time defending champion. The Wolverines won an additional seven before the NCAA officially sanctioned the sport in 1937 (1927-28, 1931-32, 1934-36). Michigan is also the only program in the country to win national titles under four different head coaches -- Mike Bottom, Matt Mann, Jon Urbanchek and Gus Stager.
Champions: In Michigan's history, 108 student-athletes have accounted for 165 national individual, diving or relay championships. Michigan has crowned at least one national champion in 23 of the last 31 NCAA Championships. The last swimmer, diver or relay to win a national title came in 2014 from Dylan Bosch in the 200-yard butterfly, coincidentally the last time the NCAA Championships were held at Texas.
Best Events: The program's best event at the NCAA Championships has been the 100-yard freestyle, as 10 U-M swimmers have won a total of 16 national titles. The Wolverines have had at least one individual national champion in every race but three: 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM. Michigan's most successful relay team has been the 400-yard freestyle relay, winning that race 14 times (last in 1959). Prior to the 200-yard medley relay team's win in 2013, the last U-M relay team to win a national championship was the 800-meter freestyle relay team in 2004.
Last Season: Michigan was eighth in 2018, returning to the top 10 after a two-year absence. Three swimmers made the podium in the 1,650-yard freestyle on the final day (Felix Auböck, Ricardo Vargas, PJ Ransford), while Tommy Cope set a school record in the 200-yard breaststroke. Five swimmers and one relay earned All-America honors. » Recap
Last Time Out
Big Ten Championships (Feb. 27-March 2): The Wolverines finished second as a team (1,464 points), buoyed by scoring performances from all 26 men on the championship roster, at the conference meet in Iowa City, Iowa. Felix Auböck (500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle) and Charlie Swanson (400-yard IM) were repeat winners in their respective events, while Miles Smachlo set a school record in winning the 100-yard butterfly. The 200-yard medley relay team of Alex King, Will Chan, Smachlo and Luiz Gustavo Borges also took home gold to open the meet. » Recap
NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (March 14-16): Junior Jake Herremans (one-meter) and sophomore Ross Todd (one-meter, platform) qualified for the NCAA Championships at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Wolverine Bites
• The Wolverines are deepest in the breaststroke, distance and individual medleys. Of Michigan's 23 invited swims, 19 come in the distance freestyles (200, 500, 1650), breaststroke (100, 200) and individual medley (200, 400).
• All five relays will swim at the NCAA Championships. The Wolverines are seeded to score in three of them: the 200-yard medley relay (3rd), 800-yard freestyle relay (7th) and 400-yard medley relay (10th).
• Junior Miles Smachlo is the top seed in the 100-yard butterfly from his title-winning performance at the Big Ten Championships (44.82). This is his third straight NCAA Championships appearance. He earned an All-America honorable mention in the 200-yard butterfly (16th) last season. In the 100-yard butterfly, he was 31st in 2017 and 33rd in 2018.
• Junior Charlie Swanson is the top seed in the 400-yard IM. He has been a member of the U.S. National Team in this event (in long course) since making the final in the 400-meter IM at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. Swanson was an All-American in the event last season (6th) and is slated to represent USA Swimming at the 2019 Pan American Games this August in Lima, Peru.
• Junior Felix Auböck, a three-time NCAA runner-up, is the top seed in the 500-yard freestyle (4:09.37), while sophomore Ricardo Vargas is second (4:11.45). Auböck is also the second seed in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Vargas is also seeded fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle and fifth in the 400-yard IM.
• Senior captain Mokhtar Al-Yamani is the only senior on the NCAA Championships roster. His time in the 200-yard freestyle at the Big Ten Championships (1:34.17) placed him on the right side of the cutline. Only 30 swimmers were invited in the event; Al-Yamani was 29th.
• Freshmen Patrick Callan and Will Chan will make their NCAA Championships debuts and cap off stellar rookie seasons. Callan, a member of the 2018-19 U.S. Junior National Team, is seeded as high as seventh in the 200-yard freestyle. Chan cemented his spot after going 52.36 in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Big Ten Championships, an improvement of two-tenths over his in-season time.
• Michigan will have multiple divers at the NCAA Championships for the first time in 20 years. Junior Jake Herremans will dive one-meter, while sophomore Ross Todd will dive one-meter and platform. It is the second appearance for Todd -- he was 25th on platform and 28th on three-meter last year as a freshman -- and the first for Herremans.
Players Mentioned
