Vanderkaay Wins 500 Freestyle; U-M in Ninth at NCAAs

Thursday, March 24

Minneapolis, Minn.

Noon CT

Michigan

NCAA Championships (Day 1)

3/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Junior Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams HS) won the third NCAA individual championship of his career, finishing the 500-yard freestyle in 4:09.82 to lead the No. 5 University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team Thursday (March 24) on the first day of the 2005 NCAA Championships at the University of Minnesota's University Aquatic Center. The Wolverines hold ninth place with 58 points.

Vanderkaay is U-M's first repeat NCAA champion since Tim Siciliano won three consecutive titles in the 400y/400m individual medley in 1999-2001.

Vanderkaay, the 2004 NCAA champion in the 400-meter freestyle, led from start to finish, building a one-length lead midway through the race. With just over 100 yards left, Vanderkaay's lead had ballooned to two lengths as he cruised on to victory. His time of 4:09.82 is the second-fastest time in NCAA history, second only to former Wolverine Tom Dolan's (1994-96) time of 4:08.75 at the 1995 NCAA Championships.

The Wolverines added 14 points to their score with the performances of Davis Tarwater (Knoxville, Tenn./The Webb School) and Andrew Hurd (Oakville, Ontario/Trafalger) in the consolation final of the 500-yard freestyle. Stanford's Mike McLean got off the blocks quickly and took the early lead in the race. However, with 150 yards remaining in the heat, Tarwater took over the lead with Hurd sitting in sixth. Tarwater held off a late charge by Indiana's Sergiy Fesenko to win the consolation heat and finish ninth overall in a personal-record time of 4:16.89, while Hurd moved into fourth with a split of 51.04 over the final 100 yards to touch the wall in 4:19.36, good for 12th overall.

In the 400-yard medley relay, the team of Chris DeJong (Holland, Mich./Holland HS), Christian Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams HS), Tarwater and Peter Vanderkaay finished the opening day of competition with a seventh-place finish in 3:11.49 after posting a school-record time of 3:11.04 in the prelims. The Wolverines were in seventh after the first 100 yards of the race but slipped to eighth following the breaststroke and butterfly portions of the heat. Peter Vanderkaay, however, posted a split of 43.64 over the final 100 yards to push Michigan into seventh.

The Wolverines will return to the University Aquatic Center on Friday (March 25) for the second day of the NCAA Championships.

Top 10 Teams (After Day 1)

 1. Auburn 172 2. Arizona 130 3. California 126 4. Stanford 120 5. Florida 86 6. Northwestern 69 7. Minnesota 65 8. Georgia 62 9. MICHIGAN 58 10. Southern Cal 52

Event Winners/U-M Finishes (Day 1)
(Preliminary time in parentheses if faster than finals time)

200-yard Freestyle Relay

 1. California 1:18.58*#^% (Duje Draganja,Roland Gimbutis Jonas Tilly, Milorad Cavic)

500-yard Freestyle

 1. Peter Vanderkaay, U-M 4:09.82% 9. Davis Tarwater, U-M 4:16.89 12. Andrew Hurd, U-M 4:19.36 (4:18.63) 28. Alex Vanderkaay, U-M 4:22.52 36. Brendan Neligan, U-M 4:26.09

200-yard Individual Medley

 1. Ryan Lochte, Florida 1:41.71*#$^& 35. Chuck Sayao, U-M 1:49.55 42. Dane Grenda, U-M 1:50.39 -- Chris DeJong, U-M DQ

50-yard Freestyle

 1. Fred Bousquet, Auburn 18.90 (18.74*#^&)

One-Meter Springboard

 1. Joona Puhakka, Arizona State 421.05

400-yard Medley Relay

 1. Stanford 3:06.45% (Jayme Cramer, Gary Marshall Matt McDonald, Wildman-Tobriner) 7. Michigan 3:11.49 (3:11.04@) (Chris DeJong, Christian Vanderkaay, Davis Tarwater, Peter Vanderkaay) * NCAA record # U.S. Open record $ American record ^ NCAA Meet record ! Big Ten Conference record @ Michigan school record % University Aquatic Center record

Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423