Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Wolverines Aim to Recapture Big Ten Championship
2/19/2018 5:19:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
» The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team looks to win its 41st conference title at the Big Ten Championships, beginning Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
» Michigan finished tied for second last season (1,382 points). Indiana enters the meet as the defending champion.
» Paul Powers (50-yard freestyle), Felix Auböck (500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle) and Charlie Swanson (400-yard IM) each won individual titles at last year's meet. Other former Big Ten champions on the roster include Tristan Sanders (2016: 200-yard backstroke) and PJ Ransford (2016: 1,650-yard freestyle).
THIS WEEK
Wed-Sat., Feb. 21-24 -- Big Ten Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.), 11 a.m./6:30 p.m. CST
Buy Tickets | Championships Central | Live Results: Swimming : Diving
Live Video (BTN2Go) | TV: Big Ten Network (Airs Sunday, Feb. 25, at 10 a.m. EST)
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The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team begins the postseason looking to return to the top of the podium at the 2018 Big Ten Championships, held Wednesday through Saturday (Feb. 21-24) at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The four-day meet begins with two relays on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CST. For the three days that follow, preliminaries begin at 11 a.m., with finals following at 6:30 p.m.
The Big Ten Network will air a condensed version of the meet on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 10 a.m. EST. Bernie Guenther (play-by-play), Margaux Farrell (analyst), Matthew Barnard (diving analyst) and Gabriella DiGiovanni (sideline) will be on the call. Each session will be streamed live through BTN2Go.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday, Feb. 21 (6:30 p.m.)
200-yard Medley Relay
800-yard Freestyle Relay
Thursday, Feb. 22 (Preliminaries at 11 a.m., Finals at 6:30 p.m.)
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard IM
50-yard Freestyle
One-Meter Diving (1 p.m.)
400-yard Medley Relay
Friday, Feb. 23 (Preliminaries at 11 a.m., Finals at 6:30 p.m.)
100-yard Butterfly
400-yard IM
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
Three-Meter Diving (1 p.m.)
200-yard Freestyle Relay
Saturday, Feb. 24 (Preliminaries at 11 a.m., Finals at 6:30 p.m.)
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
Platform Diving (1 p.m.)
1,650-yard Freestyle (4:15 p.m.)
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: 64-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-40-34-32-30-28
Note:Only A & B finals (championship & consolation) will be contested in the diving events.
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Titles: Michigan has won 40 Big Ten Conference team championships, the most of any conference member (Indiana is second with 25). In total, U-M has won 518 individual, relay or diving titles -- 370 in individual swimming events, 130 on relays and 18 in diving.
Last Year: Every member of the championships roster scored points over the four-day meet, but Michigan saw its six-year title streak come to an end, as it finished tied for second last season. Indiana captured the team title. The Wolverines had three individual champions: Felix Auböck in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles, Paul Powers in the 50-yard freestyle and Charlie Swanson in the 400-yard IM. [ Recap ]
Awards: A Michigan swimmer has been named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year in 19 of the last 24 seasons: Marcel Wouda (1993), Tom Dolan (1994-95), Derya Buyukuncu (1996), John Piersma (1997), Tom Malchow (1998), Chris Thompson (1999 (co), 2001), Dan Ketchum (2002), Peter Vanderkaay (2004 [co], 2005, 2006 [co]), Alex Vanderkaay (2008), Tyler Clary (2009-10), Dan Madwed (2012), Connor Jaeger (2013-14), Dylan Bosch (2015) and Felix Auböck (2017). The Big Ten Swimmer of the Year is voted on by the conference coaches after the NCAA Championships and is announced in early April.
Fifteen student-athletes have been named Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Scott Ryan (1988), Gustavo Borges (1992), Royce Sharp (1993), Tom Dolan (1994), Jason Lancaster (1995), Chris Thompson (1998), Jeff Hopwood and Tim Siciliano (1999), Dan Ketchum (2001), Brendan Neligan (2002), Peter Vanderkaay (2003), Kyle Whitaker (2011), Dylan Bosch (2014), Evan White (2015) and Felix Auböck (2017).
Additionally, 12 Wolverines have been named Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships: Marcel Wouda (1993), Gustavo Borges (1995), Derya Buyukuncu (1996, 1998), John Piersma (1997), Chris Thompson (1999), Alex Vanderkaay (2008 [co]), Tyler Clary (2009-10), Dan Madwed (2012) and Dylan Bosch (2015-16).
U-M has never had a Big Ten Diver of the Year, though Jason Coben was named Diver of the Championships in 2003 (shared with Marc Carlton of Indiana) and 2004.
Champions: There are five current swimmers who have previously won Big Ten individual titles: Paul Powers (50-yard freestyle, 2015-17), Tristan Sanders (200-yard backstroke, 2016), PJ Ransford (1,650-yard freestyle, 2016), Felix Auböck (500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle, 2017) and Charlie Swanson (400-yard IM, 2017).
Diving: In the diving events, Michigan has won 18 conference titles across all boards. The last U-M diver to win a conference title was Jason Coben, who won both one-meter and platform in 2004. Michigan has not had a student-athlete win three-meter since Matthew Chelich in 1979.
BIG TEN RANKINGS
Here's where Michigan swimmers rank in the Big Ten heading into this week's championship. The top 24 in each individual swimming and diving event score points. Each swimmer is limited to a maximum of three individual events and four relay swims:
50-yard Freestyle
Paul Powers: 1st (19.21)
James Peek: 2nd (19.30)
Luiz Gustavo Borges: 3rd (19.43)
James Jones: T-9th (19.86)
Jackson Goethe: 12th (19.90)
100-yard Freestyle
Paul Powers: 2nd (42.79)
James Jones: 3rd (42.93)
Luiz Gustavo Borges: T-7th (43.47)
Mokhtar Al-Yamani: 10th (43.62)
Miles Smachlo: 11th (43.73)
200-yard Freestyle
Felix Auböck: 2nd (1:33.69)
Mokhtar Al-Yamani: 4th (1:35.18)
Kai Williams: 9th (1:36.82)
Luiz Gustavo Borges: 13th (1:37.10)
Ricardo Vargas: 15th (1:37.13)
500-yard Freestyle
Felix Auböck: 1st (4:12.02)
PJ Ransford: 2nd (4:16.43)
Ricardo Vargas: 3rd (4:16.50)
Stephen Holmquist: 7th (4:23.20)
Kai Williams: 20th (4:26.18)
1,650-yard Freestyle
Felix Auböck: 1st (14:43.76)
PJ Ransford: 2nd (14:49.36)
Ricardo Vargas: 4th (15:05.96)
Will Roberts: 12th (15:21.69)
Tim Hanson: 18th (15:28.85)
Stephen Holmquist: 22nd (15:36.32)
100-yard Backstroke
Tristan Sanders: 7th (47.72)
Alex King: 8th (47.84)
Paul Powers: 9th (48.01)
Alex Martin: 13th (48.39)
Kai Williams: 16th (48.46)
Rob Zofchak: T-19th (48.51)
200-yard Backstroke
Tristan Sanders: 2nd (1:43.03)
Rob Zofchak: 9th (1:45.08)
Alex King: 18th (1:46.99)
100-yard Breaststroke
Jacob Montague: 2nd (52.30)
Jeremy Babinet: 12th (54.07)
Tommy Cope: 15th (54.36)
Evan White: 16th (54.42)
200-yard Breaststroke
Jacob Montague: 1st (1:53.23)
Tommy Cope: 2nd (1:53.72)
Charlie Swanson: 6th (1:56.10)
Jeremy Babinet: 13th (1:58.74)
100-yard Butterfly
James Jones: 1st (45.89)
Evan White: 3rd (46.03)
Miles Smachlo: 5th (46.19)
Seth Kyriakidis: 12th (47.68)
Jon Burkett: 18th (47.96)
200-yard Butterfly
Miles Smachlo: 3rd (1:43.31)
Evan White: 4th (1:44.30)
Seth Kyriakidis: 11th (1:47.23)
Ryan Sebastian: 19th (1:48.34)
200-yard IM
Jacob Montague: 2nd (1:43.75)
Evan White: 3rd (1:44.24)
Tommy Cope: 4th (1:44.45)
Charlie Swanson: 5th (1:44.68)
Miles Smachlo: 6th (1:45.41)
Tristan Sanders: 24th (1:48.49)
400-yard IM
Charlie Swanson: 1st (3:41.53)
Tommy Cope: 2nd (3:44.48)
Stephen Holmquist: 6th (3:50.06)
PJ Ransford: 9th (3:51.09)
Ricardo Vargas: 12th (3:51.58)
Will Roberts: 13th (3:51.85)
Tim Hanson: 14th (3:52.22)
Ryan Sebastian: 19th (3:52.89)
Felix Auböck: 24th (3:53.91)
200-yard Freestyle Relay
Paul Powers, Luiz Gustavo Borges, James Jones, James Peek: 1st (1:16.65)
400-yard Freestyle Relay
Paul Powers, James Jones, Luiz Gustavo Borges, Mokhtar Al-Yamani: 1st (2:52.68)
800-yard Freestyle Relay
Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Felix Auböck, Kai Williams, Tristan Sanders: 2nd (6:21.66)
200-yard Medley Relay
Paul Powers, Jacob Montague, James Jones, James Peek: 2nd (1:25.12)
400-yard Medley Relay
Tristan Sanders, Jacob Montague, Miles Smachlo, Paul Powers: 2nd (3:08.14)
WOLVERINE BITES
• The Wolverines came in at No. 6 in the TYR/CSCAA Division I Coaches Poll, released on Jan. 31. Other ranked Big Ten teams include Indiana (No. 2), Ohio State (No. 15) and Minnesota (No. 22). [ Poll ]
• Heading into this week's meet, Michigan has 67 times in individual events that are seeded to score (top 24). Five swimmers and two relays enter as top seeds: Paul Powers (50-yard freestyle), Felix Auböck (500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle), James Jones (100-yard butterfly), Jacob Montague (100-yard breaststroke) and Charlie Swanson (400-yard IM), along with the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.
• Senior Paul Powers will swim for history on Thursday, as he aims for his fourth consecutive Big Ten title in the 50-yard freestyle. In the 92-year history of Big Ten swimming, only one other swimmer has won that event four consecutive years: U.S. Olympian Matt Grevers (Northwestern), who did it from 2004-07. Powers set the Big Ten record at the Championships as a sophomore (18.85) and lowered it last year as a junior (18.80).
Powers is one of three seniors on the roster to have won at least one Big Ten individual title, joining Tristan Sanders (200-yard backstroke) and PJ Ransford (1,650-yard freestyle), each of whom won their titles in 2016. Evan White seeks to join them this season and enters the Big Ten Championships on a hot streak, as he's seed third in two events (100-yard butterfly, 200-yard IM) and fourth in another (200-yard butterfly). In nine career individual races at the Big Ten Championships, White has placed no lower than fourth, winning four silver medals and two bronze medals.
• Last year, the sophomores -- then freshmen -- dominated at the Big Ten Championships, combined to score 423 points as a class, more than two entire teams (Northwestern had 349, Michigan State had 273) and came within one point of eighth-place Iowa (424 points). Felix Auböck won the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles, Charlie Swanson won the 400-yard IM and Jacob Montague won two medals (second in the 100-yard breaststroke, third in the 200-yard breaststroke).
• Michigan goes into the Big Ten Championships looking very strong in the individual medleys, with five swimmers ranked in the top 10 in the 200-yard IM and four swimmers ranked in the top 10 in the 400-yard IM. Last year, the Wolverines had nine swimmers score in the 200-yard IM and four score in the 400-yard IM.
• Going into the Big Ten Championships, all four divers competing this season have achieved at least two NCAA Zone Diving qualifying scores. Freshman Ross Todd holds team-high scores on three-meter (399.98) and platform (365.03), while sophomore Jake Herremans leads on one-meter (375.30). [ Diving Bests ]
• Heading into the weekend, Michigan swimmers have accumulated 65 NCAA A or B cuts. Currently, there are 11 swimmers who have times ahead of last year's cut line to the NCAA Championships: Paul Powers (50-yard freestyle), James Peek (50-yard freestyle), Luiz Gustavo Borges (50-yard freestyle), Felix Auböck (200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle), PJ Ransford (500-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle), Ricardo Vargas (500-yard freestyle), Jacob Montague (100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard IM), Tommy Cope (200-yard breaststroke, 400-yard IM), James Jones (100-yard butterfly), Evan White (100-yard butterfly, 200-yard IM) and Charlie Swanson (400-yard IM). [ Top Times ]
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan closed out the dual-meet portion of the season back on Feb. 2, defeating Michigan State, 212-64, at Canham Natatorium. [ Recap ]
Four swimmers suited up and swam for faster times at the Michigan First Chance Meet, held last weekend (Sat-Sun., Feb. 17-18) at Canham Natatorium. [ Recap ]
UP NEXT
Tuesday, Feb. 27 -- host Michigan Last Chance Meet (Canham Natatorium), TBA
Thurs-Sat., March 8-10 -- at NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (Columbus, Ohio), 1 p.m.
Wed-Sat., March 21-24 -- at NCAA Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.), 10 a.m./6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
