Season Review: 2018-19 Michigan Men's Swimming and Diving

• Team Captains: Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Collin DeShaw, Stephen Holmquist
• Record: 7-1, 4-1 Big Ten Conference
• Big Ten Championships: Second Place
• NCAA Championships: 13th Place

The University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team completed its 98th season of varsity competition in 2018-19. Led by a trio of senior captains, U-M finished second at the Big Ten Championships and was 13th at the NCAA Championships.

Team Highlights

• The Wolverines finished 13th at the NCAA Championships (March 27-30). They were represented by 15 student-athletes, including 11 individually-qualified swimmers, two divers and two relay-only swimmers.

• Michigan finished second to Indiana at the Big Ten Championships (Feb. 27-March 1), scoring 1,464 points as a team. All 26 men on the roster scored at least one point for the team, with ten of them earning All-Big Ten honors at the conclusion of the meet.

• The Wolverines went 7-1 in dual meets, notching wins over Miami University and Oakland (Sept. 28), Northwestern (Oct. 20), Iowa and Denver (Nov. 2-3), Ohio State (Jan. 19, 2019) and Michigan State (Feb. 8). Their only loss came at No. 3 Indiana (Jan. 17).

• Twenty-four members of the team received the U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award, given to student-athletes who maintain a cumulative grade-point of 3.0 or higher. Of those 24, 15 also received Academic All-Big Ten honors.

Individual Highlights

• Junior Felix Auböck won the national title in the 1,650-yard freestyle on the final day of the NCAA Championships in March. After runner-up finishes in that event each of his first two years -- and three days of disappointing swims -- Auböck broke through to win in 14:23.09, coming within a second of the NCAA record. He is the 109th student-athlete in program history to win a national title. Additionally, Auböck won the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles at the Big Ten Championships for the third consecutive year. [ Read: Four Days in Austin: Felix Auböck's Tumultuous Path to a National Title ]

• Junior Miles Smachlo won the Big Ten title in the 100-yard butterfly, setting a school record and becoming the first man in program history to break the 45-second barrier (44.82). He went on to win a bronze medal at the NCAA Championships (44.84), a big improvement after finishing 31st as a freshman and 33rd as a sophomore.

• Junior Charlie Swanson won the 400-yard IM at the Big Ten Championships for the third year in a row, and became the first U-M swimmer to accomplish that feat since Alex Vanderkaay (2006-08). He also finished ninth in the 200-yard breaststroke at the NCAA Championships.

• Sophomore Luiz Gustavo Borges, the son of Michigan swimming great Gustavo Borges, had a strong sophomore season as he scored three top-10 finishes at the Big Ten Championships (second in the 50-yard freestyle, sixth in the 100-yard freestyle and ninth in the 200-yard freestyle). He was 15th in the 50-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships and set a school record in the 100-yard freestyle (42.21) leading off the 400-yard freestyle relay on the final day of the NCAA Championships.

• The Wolverines got big contributions from a large freshmen class. Patrick Callan, a member of the U.S. Junior National Team, ended the season with his name appearing twice on the school's all-time performers list (No. 6 in the 200-yard freestyle, No. 7 in the 500-yard freestyle). Freshman Mason Hunter made the team's Big Ten Championships roster after a huge performance at the First Chance Meet (Feb. 23-24) where he posted the eighth-fastest time in school history in the 100-yard breaststroke. Will Chan joined Hunter on that list, ending the season fifth.

• Junior Tommy Cope was the program's lone swimmer to score points in two events at the NCAA Championships, though he missed the top-eight final by one spot both times. He was ninth in the 400-yard IM and 11th in the 200-yard breaststroke. Cope was the recipient of the 2018-19 Bates/Deskins Award, given annually to the university's top junior student-athlete.

• Redshirt sophomore Alex King gave the Wolverines a potent backstroke option at the Big Ten Championships. Making his postseason debut in February, King swam leadoff on the winning 200-yard medley relay, posted the fourth-fastest time in school history in the 100-yard backstroke on the leadoff leg of the 400-yard medley relay (46.40) and took fifth in the 100-yard backstroke (46.38).

• In junior Jake Herremans and sophomore Ross Todd, Michigan sent two divers to the NCAA Championships for the first time in 20 years. Todd finaled in two events at the Big Ten Championships, finishing second on platform and seventh on three-meter. He was the first Michigan men's diver to win a medal on platform since Jason Coben in 2004.

Honors and Awards

Felix
Auböck

Miles
Smachlo

Ricardo
Vargas

Charlie
Swanson

Alex
King

Will
Chan

Luiz Gustavo
Borges

CSCAA All-Americans
Felix Auböck -- 1,650-yard Freestyle
Miles Smachlo -- 100-yard Butterfly
Ricardo Vargas -- 500-yard Freestyle

CSCAA All-America Honorable Mentions
Luiz Gustavo Borges: 50-yard Freestyle
Patrick Callan: 500-yard Freestyle
Tommy Cope: 400-yard IM, 200-yard Breaststroke
Charlie Swanson: 200-yard Breaststroke
Ricardo Vargas: 400-yard IM
400-yard Freestyle Relay: Luiz Gustavo Borges, Charlie Swanson, Miles Smachlo, Tommy Cope
800-yard Freestyle Relay: Patrick Callan, Charlie Swanson, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Felix Auböck

Big Ten Champions
Felix Auböck: 500-yard Freestyle, 1,650-yard Freestyle
Miles Smachlo: 100-yard Butterfly
Charlie Swanson: 400-yard IM
200-yard Medley Relay: Alex King, Will Chan, Miles Smachlo, Luiz Gustavo Borges

Big Ten Awards
All-Big Ten (First Team): Felix Auböck, Luiz Gustavo Borges, Will Chan, Alex King, Miles Smachlo, Charlie Swanson
All-Big Ten (Second Team): Patrick Callan, Tommy Cope, Ricardo Vargas, Ross Todd
Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree: Mokhtar Al-Yamani
Swimmer of the Week: Charlie Swanson (Nov. 7), Ricardo Vargas (Dec. 5), Miles Smachlo (Jan. 23), Alex Martin (Feb. 13)
Diver of the Week: Ross Todd (Dec. 5), Collin DeShaw (Feb. 13)
Freshman of the Week: Patrick Callan (Dec. 5), Will Chan (Jan. 9), Luiz Gustavo Borges (Feb. 7)

Academic All-Big Ten
Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Sr., International Studies, Tokyo, Japan
Felix Auböck, Jr., History, Political Science, Vienna, Austria
Jeremy Babinet, Jr., Mechanical Engineering, Redwood City, Calif.
Luiz Gustavo Borges, So., Business Administration, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Chris Canning, So., Undeclared, Wilmette, Ill.
Tommy Cope, Jr., Electrical Engineering, Dayton, Ohio
Collin DeShaw, Sr., Economics, Holland, Mich.
Tim Hanson, Jr., Biology, Health & Society, Newport Beach, Calif.
Jake Herremans, Jr., Biology, Rockford, Mich.
Stephen Holmquist, Sr., Mechanical Engineering, Wilton, Conn.
Alex King, Jr., Music Performance – Saxophone, Evansville, Ind.
Alex Martin, Jr., Business Administration, Moorestown, N.J.
Jacob Montague, Jr., Sport Management, Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.
Miles Smachlo, Jr., Business Administration, Rexford, N.Y.
Ricardo Vargas, So., Undeclared, Cuernavaca, Mexico