This Week in Michigan Men's Swimming & Diving #4
11/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 18, 2014
THIS WEEK
Thu-Sat., Nov. 20-22 -- at Nike Dowd Cup - Diving Only (Chapel Hill, N.C.), 11 a.m./5:30 p.m.
Live Results
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Four divers from the No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team will be in action at the Dowd Nike Cup, set to be held Thursday through Saturday (Nov. 20-22) inside the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C. Preliminaries will begin at 11 a.m. on all three days, with finals starting at 5:30 p.m. for both three-meter (Thursday) and one-meter (Friday). There will not be finals for platform on Saturday.
The divers will looking to secure qualifying scores for the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, scheduled to be held March 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. The top finishers at that meet will go on to compete at the NCAA Championships, slated for March 27-29 in Iowa City, Iowa.
WHO'S ATTENDING
All four men's divers will be in action: seniors Kevin Bain and Thomas Jahnke, sophomore Ryan O'Donnell and freshman JP Flangos.
In addition to Michigan, eight other schools will be participating: North Carolina, Tennessee, Navy, Air Force, Duke, North Carolina State, East Carolina and Old Dominion.
DIVER NOTES
Fifth-year senior Thomas Jahnke is a three-time NCAA Zone Diving Championships qualifier and holds team-high scores on both one-meter (294.25) and three-meter (304.45). He redshirted last season ... Senior Kevin Bain qualified for the last year's NCAA Zone Diving Championships. He was one of the University's six nominees for the 2014-15 Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships ... Sophomore Ryan O'Donnell is primarily a platform specialist. He dove off both the one-meter and three-meter springboards against Indiana, Texas and Louisville (Oct. 24-25) ... Freshman JP Flangos is scheduled to make his collegiate debut this week. He was a three-time New York State Championships qualifier out of Bronxville, N.Y.
ZONE DIVING QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
To qualify for the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, divers must score at least 300.00 on both one-meter and platform and 320.00 on three-meter.
Through three meets, Michigan has yet to gain an NCAA Zone Diving qualifying score. None of the four divers have competed on platform yet this season.
NEW NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
There are new qualification procedures for the NCAA Championships. At Zones, the top five female and top four male divers on each event at each zone will automatically qualify.
Additional place finishers in each event at each zone will be eligible based on the number of student-athletes from that zone who finished in the top 16 in that event at the previous year's NCAA Championships. All eligible divers must have achieved the zone qualifying score prior to the NCAA Championships in all events they wish to participate. For the men, Zone C is allotted five spots on one-meter, eight on three-meter and six on platform. For the women, it is eight spots on one-meter, nine on three-meter and eight on platform.
Any diver that qualifies to the NCAA Championships will be allowed to optionally enter any other event(s) at the championships, provided that the diver finished in the top 12 at the same zone meet and has achieved the zone-qualifying score for that event prior to the NCAA Championships.
NEW COACH
The divers are under the direction of new coach Mike Hilde. Prior to his arrival in Ann Arbor, Hilde spent three years coaching with the Mission Viejo Nadadores in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he served as National/International Team Director and an assistant coach. In September, he served on USA Diving's coaching staff at the 2014 FINA World Junior Championships in Penza, Russia.
Hilde was a four-time NCAA Championships qualifier at USC (2004-07). He was an NCAA All-American in 2006 (three-meter). [ Hilde's Bio Page]
KIMBALL RETURNS
Joining Hilde in the diving well is former head diving coach Dick Kimball, who is back on deck with the men's and women's programs as one a volunteer assistant. Kimball coached at Michigan for 43 years (1960-2002) and added eight more as a volunteer (2003-10). He was an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Team at five Olympic Games. [ Release ]
RANKINGS
As a team, the Wolverines fell one spot to No. 2 in the most-recent poll from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA), released Nov. 13. California claimed the top spot. [ Poll ]
The rankings, compiled by nine CSCAA-member coaches and one media member, is not designed to predict the results of the NCAA Championship meet but rather which teams would win head-to-head against other teams in the country.
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan ran its dual-meet record to 6-0 (3-0 Big Ten) after defeating No. 18 Penn State and Virginia in a tri-meet back on Nov. 8 in State College, Pa. Several swimmers swam outside their normal events during the two-day contest, including junior Dylan Bosch, who won the 500-yard freestyle. Freshman Evan White won two events and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his efforts on Nov. 11. [ Recaps: Day One | Day Two :: Evan White Honored ]
UP NEXT
The swimmers will remain training in Ann Arbor, readying for the U.S. Winter National Championships, to be held Dec. 3-6 in Greensboro, N.C. This meet serves as the team's midseason meet in which the swimmers will attempt to get as many NCAA 'A' and 'B' times as possible. Last season, U-M swimmers left their midseason meet with seven NCAA 'A' and 44 NCAA 'B' times.
Wed-Sat., Dec. 3-6 -- at U.S. Winter National Championships (Greensboro, N.C.), 9 a.m./6 p.m.
Communications Contact: Brad Rudner (734) 763-4423
