Weekly Release #1

10/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Oct. 21 -- vs. Eastern Michigan (Canham Natatorium), 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 5 -- vs. Georgia (Canham Natatorium), 1 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 18 -- vs. Michigan State (Canham Natatorium), 6 p.m.

This Week: Eastern Michigan Dual
The University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team opens its 2005-06 season this weekend at home in Canham Natatorium. The Wolverines will welcome Washtenaw County rival Eastern Michigan this Friday (Oct. 21) at 6 p.m. The meet format will be short-course yards.

Michigan vs. Eastern Michigan
No non-Big Ten Conference opponent is more familiar to the Michigan men's swimming and diving program than Eastern Michigan. Dating back to their first meeting in the 1970-71 season, the two teams have competed against each other in dual meets 25 times. The Wolverines are perfect in those meets with a 25-0 record, including a 158-85 victory last year at Michael H. Jones Natatorium in Ypsilanti, Mich.

Scouting the Opponents
Eastern Michigan -- Led by NCAA qualifier Dan Wohl, the Eagles posted a record of 7-2, 4-0 in the MAC to win their sixth consecutive MAC championship in 2005. Under 18th-year head swimming coach Peter Linn, Eastern Michigan is 131-36 overall and 83-6 in the MAC action. Eastern Michigan on the Internet: www.emich.edu/goeagles/.

Michigan in Openers
Since the 1967-68 season, when the Wolverines fell to Indiana (40-83), Michigan has gone on to win its opening dual meet 37 straight years. The streak includes wins over top-ranked teams such as Georgia, Florida and California. Last season the Maize and Blue downed Eastern Michigan winning all but two events in a 158-85 victory at Michael H. Jones Natatorium to begin the 2004-05 season.

We're Going Live
If you're unable to make it to Canham Natatorium this season, you can keep up on all the U-M swimming and diving action as it is happening. MGoBlue.com will provide live scoring for all four of Michigan's scheduled dual meets in 2005-06.

New Faces
Highly regarded as one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, the Wolverines welcome their largest freshman class since the 1999-2000 season with 12 newcomers on its 2005-06 roster. Sal Barba (Hudson, Mass./St. Johns), Curtis Dauw (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East), Brad Dotson (Jenison, Mich./Jenison), Charlie Kennedy (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township), Jamie Martone (Troy, Mich./Troy), Matt Patton (Matthews, N.C./Butler), Evan Ryser (Katy, Texas/James E. Taylor), Bobby Savulich (Edison, N.J./Saint Joseph), Gunnar Schmidt (Scottsdale, Ariz./Arcadia), Kyle Schroeder (Milan, Mich./Milan), Christian Sprang (Sicklerville, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) and Bryan Vessels (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) will all make their collegiate debuts this season.

Introducing the Captains
Seniors Chris DeJong (Holland, Mich./Holland), Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn./Webb School) and Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams) have been selected to lead the Wolverines as tri-captains in the 2005-06 season. One of the strongest group of captains ever, the trio has combined for a total of six NCAA championships, 26 NCAA All-America citations, 18 Big Ten championships, three Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors, four Big Ten and eight U-M records.

Leader of the Pack
Head coach Bob Bowman returns for his second season at the helm of the U-M men's swimming and diving program. In his first season guiding the Michigan program, he led the Wolverines to a dual meet record of 7-2, including a perfect 5-0 record in the Big Ten. Following the dual meet season, Bowman led 10 members into the NCAA Championships (Mar. 24-26) and a sixth place finish overall.

The Best in all the Land
The 2005-06 Wolverines feature two defending NCAA Champions from the 2004-05 season. Peter Vanderkaay claimed his fourth (third individual) NCAA title of his career in the 500-yard freestyle posting the second-fastest time in NCAA history at 4:09.82, second only to former Wolverine Tom Dolan's (1994-96) time of 4:08.75 at the 1995 NCAA Championships. Davis Tarwater earned his first NCAA individual championship and earned Michigan's first NCAA title in a butterfly event since 1967, placing first in the 200-yard race with a time of 1:42.30.

One of the Best
Peter Vanderkaay solidified his status as one of the best swimmers in the history of the Big Ten Conference after earning his second consecutive Big Ten Swimmer of the Year following the 2005 season. Vanderkaay captured the honor after becoming only the second Wolverine (Derya Buyukuncu) to win three individual events at consecutive Big Ten Championships. Vanderkaay won the 500-yard freestyle, the 1,650-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley at the 2004 Big Ten Championships and then repeated the performance at the 2005 conference meet.

Big Ten, Big Ten
Chris DeJong, Davis Tarwater and Peter Vanderkaay all won their second straight individual Big Ten titles in their respective events. DeJong repeated as the 200-yard backstroke champion after setting a U-M and Big Ten record with a time of 1:41.78 in 2004. Tarwater repeated as the 200-yard butterfly champion after setting a U-M and Big Ten record with a time of 1:46.26 in 2004. Vanderkaay repeated at Big Ten champion in the 500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley after winning all three titles in 2004. As a team, the Wolverines also won their fifth straight 800-yard freestyle relay crown.

A Midsummer's Success
Davis Tarwater and Peter Vanderkaay, along with U-M volunteer assistant coach Michael Phelps, earned their chance to shine at this summer's 2005 FINA World Championships.

Vanderkaay captured his second gold medal in international competition as a member of the winning 800-meter freestyle relay at the 2005 FINA World Championships (July 29). Vanderkaay teamed with Phelps, Club Wolverine member Klete Keller and Ryan Lochte (Florida), the same squad from the 2004 Olympics, to repeat their gold-medal performance from the 2004 games, posting an American-record time of 7:06.58. Earlier in competition, Vanderkaay notched a pair of sixth-place finishes in the 200-meter (1:47.25) and the 400-meter (3:47.83) freestyles.

Tarwater finished fourth in the 200-meter butterfly at the championships, touching the wall in 1:56.74. Tarwater's time marked the second fastest 200-meter butterfly in Michigan history behind Tom Malchow's finish of 1:55.03.

Also participating at the World Championships were former U-M letterwinner Chris Thompson (1998-2001), Club Wolverine member Klete Keller and U-M head coach Bob Bowman who served as an assistant coach on the USA's World Championships squad. Chris DeJong and freshman Bobby Saulvich both qualified for the World University Games, held in Turkey, but elected not to participate.

On the Horizon
Michigan will be back in action in two weeks when it faces perennial top 25-ranked Georgia at home on Saturday, Nov. 5. The dual meet with the Bulldogs will start at 1 p.m. at Canham Natatorium.

U-M will then look to earn a Challenge Cup half-point as it opens its Big Ten Conference schedule against in-state rival Michigan State at Canham Natatorium. The showdown will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18.