Distance Duo Claims All-America Honors

Thursday, March 16

Indianapolis, Ind.

10:00 AM

Michigan

NCAA Championships

3/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving

March 16, 2017

» The Wolverines sit in seventh place after two days at the NCAA Championships (74 points). Last year at this point, Michigan was tied for 11th (54 points).
» Yirong Bi (6th) and G Ryan (8th) became the first pair of teammates to reach the podium in the 500-yard freestyle at the same NCAA Championships.
» Michigan also had two NCAA All-America Honorable Mentions: Siobhán Haughey in the 200-yard IM and the quartet of Clara Smiddy, Emily Kopas, Vanessa Krause and Haughey in the 400-yard medley relay.

• Photo Gallery | Championships Central

Site: Indianapolis, Ind. (IUPUI Natatorium)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 2 of 4)
U-M Team Standing: 7th Place of 33 Teams (74 points) after Day 2
Next U-M Event: Friday, March 17 -- at NCAA Championships - Day 3 (Indianapolis, Ind.), 10 a.m./6 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Sophomore Yirong Bi and junior G Ryan became the first set of teammates in program history to earn NCAA All-America honors in the 500-yard freestyle, pacing the University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team on day two of the NCAA Championships on Thursday (March 16) at IUPUI Natatorium. The Wolverines sit in seventh place (74 points) after two days, a marked improvement over where they were at this same point last year (T-11th, 54 points).

Coming into Thursday, only four swimmers in program history had ever reached the podium in the 500-yard freestyle, including Bi last season (fifth). She finished sixth on Thursday (4:37.30), becoming the first Michigan swimmer in that event to reach the podium in consecutive seasons. Ryan became the program's fifth All-American in that event, taking eighth (4:40.28).

Tweet of the Day

Rose (6th) and G (8th) become the first teammates in program history to podium in the 500 FR at the same NCAAs! #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/CfC6VCmty0

-- Michigan Swim & Dive (@umichswimdive) March 16, 2017

Michigan ended the night with some positive momentum, re-setting the school record in the 400-yard medley relay with an 11th-place finish (3:30.62). The foursome of junior Clara Smiddy, junior Emily Kopas, freshman Vanessa Krause and Haughey went 3:31.60 at last month's Big Ten Championships and 3:31.69 during the morning's preliminaries but powered through for the second swim to break the record. It is the program's first time scoring in that event since 2011.

"That last relay was really a demonstration to this team's commitment to be better every time they hit the water," said head coach Mike Bottom. "It doesn't always happen, but it did tonight, and that gave us a real boost to end the session. This is a fast meet. Our student-athletes are going to come in tomorrow ready to fight for every spot, every point."

Sophomore Siobhán Haughey scored points in the 200-yard IM for the second consecutive year, moving up five spots from her seed in the consolation final to finish 11th (1:55.09). She touched the wall just .12 seconds behind her school record.

Freshman Kristen Hayden made her NCAA debut on Thursday, finishing 28th on the one-meter springboard (255.80).

The Wolverines also finished 21st in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:29.42). Junior Gabby DeLoof opened with a 22.47 split, the seventh-fastest time in program history.

The NCAA Championships continue tomorrow (Friday, March 17) at IUPUI Natatorium. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m., with finals following at 6 p.m. Three-meter diving will begin at 12:30 p.m.

Team Standings (After Day 2)

  1. Stanford                  213  2. California                136  3. Texas                     119  4. Georgia                   112  5. Texas A&M                 108  6. Louisville                 93  7. MICHIGAN                   74  8. North Carolina State       71  9. USC                        68 10. Indiana                    61

Event Winners/U-M Finishers (Day 2)
Preliminaries time in parentheses if faster than finals time

200-yard Freestyle Relay  1. California                         1:25.59NP    (Abbey Weitzeil, Maddie Murphy,     Amy Bilquist, Farida Osman) 21. Michigan                           1:29.42    (Gabby DeLoof, Catie DeLoof,     Siobhán Haughey, Vanessa Krause) 500-yard Freestyle  1. Katie Ledecky, Stanford            4:24.06ANP  6. Yirong Bi, U-M                     4:37.30  8. G Ryan, U-M                        4:40.28 (4:36.46) 18. Becca Postoll, U-M                 4:40.25 200-yard IM  1. Kathleen Baker, California         1:51.69 11. Siobhán Haughey, U-M               1:55.09 18. Clara Smiddy, U-M                  1:56.83 57. Carolyn McCann, U-M                2:00.93 One-Meter Diving  1. Alison Gibson, Texas                332.60 29. Kristen Hayden, U-M                 255.80  400-yard Medley Relay  1. Stanford                           3:26.35    (Ally Howe, Kim Williams,     Janet Hu, Lia Neal) 11. Michigan                           3:30.62    (Clara Smiddy, Emily Kopas,     Vanessa Krause, Siobhán Haughey)      A American RecordB Big Ten RecordM School RecordN NCAA RecordP Pool Record