Wolverines to Return to Competition at Big Ten Championships

Tuesday, February 23

Minneapolis, Minn.

5:00 PM CT

Michigan

Big Ten Championships - Day 1

Women's Swimming and Diving at the Blocks Generic

(Michigan Photography)

Wolverines to Return to Competition at Big Ten Championships

2/18/2021 2:09:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

By: Brad Rudner

» The Wolverines head to the Big Ten Championships looking to snap a two-year run of second-place finishes. Ohio State is the defending champion.
» Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meet is now five days instead of four, starting on Tuesday (Feb. 23). The other big change concerns diving, which is held entirely offsite Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 25-27) at Purdue.
» The Wolverines are buoyed by Maggie MacNeil, last year's Big Ten Swimmer of the Year and the Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships. Through her first two seasons, MacNeil is a 10-time Big Ten champion (individual and relay).

THIS WEEK
Tue-Sat., Feb. 23-27 -- at Big Ten Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.), 11 a.m./6:30 p.m. CST
Meet Central

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The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team begins its pursuit for a championship next week at the Big Ten Championships, to be held Tuesday through Saturday (Feb. 23-27) at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn. The five-day competition is for swimming only and will begin on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CST with two relays. The remaining four days will see preliminaries at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.

The diving competition will take place offsite from Thursday to Saturday (Feb. 25-27) at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind. Scores from diving will be combined with swimming to determine the team finish. [ Diving Preview ]

The first eight sessions of the Big Ten Championships will be live streamed on Big Ten Network Plus, while Saturday's finals session will air on Big Ten Network.

New Format and Schedule of Events

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Ten Championships will run slightly different this year. The meet, originally four days, is now five, running Tuesday through Saturday.

Tuesday, Feb. 23 (5 p.m. CST)
200-yard Medley Relay
800-yard Freestyle Relay

Wednesday, Feb. 24 (Preliminaries at 11 a.m./Finals at 6:30 p.m. CST)
200-yard IM
50-yard Freestyle
500-yard Freestyle
400-yard Medley Relay

Thursday, Feb. 25 (Preliminaries at 11 a.m./Finals at 6:30 p.m. CST)
100-yard Butterfly
400-yard IM
200-yard Freestyle

Friday, Feb. 26 (Preliminaries at 11 a.m./Finals at 6:30 p.m. CST)
100-yard Backstroke
100-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle Relay

Saturday, Feb. 27 (Preliminaries at 11 a.m./Finals at 6:30 p.m. CST)
100-yard Freestyle
1,650-yard Freestyle (heats begin at 4:15 p.m.; final heat follows 100-yard Freestyle)
200-yard Backstroke
200-yard Breaststroke
400-yard Freestyle Relay

Scoring Format

A Final Scoring: 32-28-27-26-25-24-23-22
B Final Scoring: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11
C Final Scoring: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Relay Scoring: 64-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-40-34

Note: Only A and B finals (championship and consolation) will be contested in the diving events.

Big Ten Championships History

Titles: Michigan is winningest women's swimming and diving program in the Big Ten, leading the conference in team titles (17), individual swimming titles (143) and relay titles (64). It also has five conference diving champions.

Last Season: The Wolverines finished second to Ohio State at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, held at Iowa. Maggie MacNeil won all three of her individual events (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly) and swam on three winning relays, earning Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships honors. Other champions included Olivia Carter (200-yard butterfly) and Miranda Tucker (100-yard breaststroke). The divers scored 195 points as a group, the third-highest total of any team. [ Recap ]

Awards: Seven U-M swimmers have been named Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships: Jen Eberwein (1998), Shannon Shakespeare (2000), Justine Mueller (2005), Kaitlyn Brady (2006), Lindsey Smith (2007), Siobhán Haughey (2016) and Maggie MacNeil (2020). No U-M diver has ever won Diver of the Championships. Three Wolverines have been named Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Justine Mueller (2005), Maggie MacNeil (2019) and Kaitlynn Sims (2020).

Diving: The Wolverines have not crowned a diving champion in any of the three events since Cinnamon Woods on platform in 1994.

Team Notes

• Michigan went 4-0 in dual meets this winter, notching wins over Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan State and Rutgers. Its planned meet against Ohio State on Feb. 6 was canceled due to the department-wide pause.

• The Wolverines are ranked No. 9 in the latest CSCAA/TYR Top 25 Coaches Poll, released Feb. 10.

• Junior Maggie MacNeil leads the Wolverines heading into next week's competition. On Jan. 22, MacNeil was one of six athletes provisionally named to Canada's roster for this summer's delayed Olympics in Tokyo. Despite limited competition time this year, MacNeil is ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, and No. 2 in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Through two years, she is a 10-time Big Ten champion, and was both Swimmer of the Year and Swimmer of the Championships in 2020.

• Michigan enters the week with one of the conference's best distance tandems in senior Sierra Schmidt and sophomore Kaitlynn Sims. Schmidt has top-eight finishes in eight of her nine career swims at the Big Ten Championships, including a runner-up finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle last year. Sims was the 2020 Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

• Junior Olivia Carter looks to build upon last season's performance in which she won the 200-yard butterfly (setting a new Big Ten record) and finished second in the 100-yard butterfly. She also swam legs on the winning 400-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay.

• Senior Daria Pyshnenko is a weapon in the sprints and on relays. A six-time Big Ten champion -- all on relays -- Pyshnenko broke out at last year's Big Ten Championships, finishing second to MacNeil in the 50-yard freestyle (21.82) and third in the 100-yard freestyle (47.90). Both times were new personal bests.

• The Wolverines have a deep freshman class ready to contribute in several areas. Kathryn Ackerman set a new school record in the 400-yard IM (4:05.58) at the team's November intrasquad. In the team's two dual meets, Sophie Housey recorded top-three finishes in four different events. The duo of Casey Chung and Sophia Tuinman provide depth and scoring potential in both backstroke events. Claire Newman ranks third on the team in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, while Claire Tuttle swam breaststroke on the team's medley relays.

• With nine divers on the roster, Michigan could once again have a strong presence on the boards. The group accounted for 195 points at the 2020 Big Ten Championships, third-most of any school. Last year, Christy Cutshaw (platform), Allie Klein (one-meter) and Nikki Canale (one-meter, three-meter) made event finals.

Up Next

Sun-Tue., March 7-9 -- at NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (Lexington, Ky.), TBA
Wed-Sat., March 17-20 -- at NCAA Championships (Greensboro, N.C.), TBA