Michigan
Michigan State
Wolverines Down Spartans In Final Regular-Season Dual Meet
2/8/2019 8:32:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
» U-M won every event, earning its 41st consecutive win over Michigan State.
» Luiz Gustavo Borges moved up in distance to win the 200-yard freestyle.
» Collin DeShaw and Chris Canning went 1-2 in the diving well.
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (McCaffree Pool)
Score: #4 Michigan 131, Michigan State 67
Records: U-M (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten), MSU (3-4, 0-3 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sat-Sun., Feb. 23-24 -- host Michigan First Chance Meet (Canham Natatorium), 11 a.m./5 p.m.
• Complete Results (PDF)
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team closed out the dual-meet portion of the season with a resounding 131-67 win over Michigan State on Friday (Feb. 8) at McCaffree Pool. It was the program's 41st consecutive win in the series against the Spartans.
"It was a good night for us," said head coach Mike Bottom. "It's a different meet in the sense that the order is different and guys race in events that they're not used to. We wanted to give them a chance to swim and see what they could do. It also gave us a chance to fine-tune racing details ahead of Big Tens."
The Wolverines won every event on Friday, getting contributions from up and down the roster. Sophomore Luiz Gustavo Borges, normally a sprinter, went up in distance, taking the win (1:38.35). Juniors James Jones (20.74) and Miles Smachlo (20.83) finished within a tenth of a second of each other in the 50-yard freestyle.
It was a good night for the breaststroke and IM group. Junior Felix Auböck took the 400-yard IM with a very solid swim (3:52.91), combining on a 1-2-3 finish with sophomores Will Roberts and Ricardo Vargas, while junior Jeremy Babinet claimed the 100-yard breaststroke (55.60). Another junior, Alex Martin, picked up the victory in the 100-yard butterfly (48.65).
In an exhibition heat of the 1,000-yard freestyle, freshman Patrick Callan established a new pool record in 9:05.84, breaking the 18-year old mark held by three-time NCAA champion Tim Siciliano.
From there, U-M overwhelmed Michigan State with its depth, going 1-2-3 in three events. Sophomore Dylan Boyd recorded a nice swim in the 100-yard freestyle (45.47), as he, junior Jacob Montague and redshirt sophomore Alex King all dipped under 46 seconds. In the 100-yard backstroke, it was senior Jon Burkett (49.60) who won, while Smachlo and junior Rob Zofchak also got under the 50-second barrier. Senior Mokhtar Al-Yamani (4:30.39), freshman Bora Unalmis (4:32.34) and senior Stephen Holmquist (4:33.59) swept the 500-yard freestyle.
In the diving well, redshirt junior Collin DeShaw (372.07) and sophomore Chris Canning (358.20) took first and second, respectively, adding more points toward the team total.
The Wolverines also won both relays convincingly, claiming the 200-yard medley relay (1:29.30) to open the meet and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:01.73) to end the meet.
The Wolverines now will turn their attention to the postseason when they host the Michigan First Chance Meet at Canham Natatorium on Feb. 23-24, with races at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 23), and again at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday (Feb. 24). Then it will be on to the Big Ten Championships the following week (Feb. 27-March 2), held at the University of Iowa.
Players Mentioned
