Michigan
NCAA Championships
Fourteen Wolverines Headed to NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Meet
3/18/2019 11:51:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
» The Wolverines are sending 14 student-athletes (12 swimmers, two divers) to the NCAA Championships (March 20-23) in Austin, Texas.
» U-M is tied for the fourth-most qualified swimmers along with California and N.C. State. Only Stanford (18), Virginia (14) and Indiana (13) have more.
» Michigan placed fourth in 2018, its highest NCAA team finish in 20 years, led by event runners-up Siobhán Haughey (200-yard freestyle) and Miranda Tucker (100-yard breaststroke).
THIS WEEK
Wed-Sat., March 20-23 -- at NCAA Championships (Austin, Texas), 9 a.m./5 p.m. CDT
Championships Central | Live Results: Swimming | Diving
Live Video: All Preliminaries, Diving Consolation Finals
Live Video (Finals): Wednesday (ESPN3) | Thursday (ESPN3) | Friday (ESPNU) | Saturday (ESPNU)
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team looks to end its season a high note this week at the NCAA Championships, running Wednesday through Saturday (March 20-23) at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas. Preliminaries will begin at 9 a.m. CDT Thursday through Saturday, with finals starting at 5 p.m. CDT all four days.
The Wolverines are sending 14 student-athletes (12 swimmers, two divers) and will have all five relays in action during the four-day meet. The team is comprised of seniors Yirong Bi, Catie DeLoof, Taylor Garcia, Siobhán Haughey, Becca Postoll and Jamie Yeung; redshirt junior Miranda Tucker; juniors Chloe Hicks and Vanessa Krause; sophomores Christy Cutshaw, Camryn McPherson, Daria Pyshnenko and Sierra Schmidt; and freshman Maggie MacNeil.
ESPN will provide live linear coverage for both Friday and Saturday finals on ESPNU, as well as digital coverage on ESPN3 for Wednesday and Thursday evening finals. All sessions not part of ESPN's broadcasts will be streamed live on the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships microsite at texassports.com.
Michigan Schedule and Invited Participants
Wednesday, March 20 (5 p.m.)
800-yard Freestyle Relay
Thursday, March 21 (Prelims at 9 a.m. CDT, Finals at 5 p.m. CDT)
200-yard Freestyle Relay
500-yard Freestyle -- Yirong Bi, Sierra Schmidt, Becca Postoll
200-yard Individual Medley -- Siobhán Haughey
50-yard Freestyle -- Maggie MacNeil, Catie DeLoof, Daria Pyshnenko
One-Meter Diving (11:30 a.m.) -- Camryn McPherson
400-yard Medley Relay
Friday, March 22 (Prelims at 9 a.m. CDT, Finals at 5 p.m. CDT)
100-yard Butterfly -- Maggie MacNeil
200-yard Freestyle -- Siobhán Haughey, Catie DeLoof, Yirong Bi
100-yard Breaststroke -- Miranda Tucker, Jamie Yeung
100-yard Backstroke -- Maggie MacNeil, Taylor Garcia
200-yard Medley Relay
Saturday, March 23 (Prelims at 9 a.m. CDT, Finals at 5 p.m. CDT)
200-yard Backstroke -- Chloe Hicks
100-yard Freestyle -- Siobhán Haughey, Catie DeLoof, Daria Pyshnenko
200-yard Breaststroke -- Miranda Tucker, Emily Kopas
200-yard Butterfly -- Vanessa Krause
Platform Diving (11:15 a.m. CDT) -- Christy Cutshaw
1,650-yard Freestyle (2:45 p.m. CDT) -- Yirong Bi, Sierra Schmidt
400-yard Freestyle Relay
Scoring Format
The top eight times (places 1-8) in each preliminary race, including relays, will advance to the evening's finals and earn NCAA All-America (the only exception is the 1,650-yard freestyle, which is a timed final). The next eight times (places 9-16) will swim in the 'B' final and earn NCAA All-America honorable mention. The top 16 finishers will score points for their team.
NCAA Championships Tidbits
History: The Wolverines have scored points at the NCAA Championships every season since 1983. U-M has four top-five finishes in program history: 1993 (5th), 1995 (2nd), 1996 (3rd) and 2018 (4th). U-M has not had back-to-back top-five team finishes since 1995-96 and has not had three consecutive years of top-10 finishes since 1997-99.
Champions: U-M has 14 NCAA champions in its history (10 in individual swimming events, three in diving, one relay). The last champion was Emily Brunemann in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 2008.
Best Events: The Wolverines have tabulated a total of 175 CSCAA All-America honors (111 in individual swimming events, 43 relays, 21 in diving). Traditionally, the best events for Michigan have been the 200-yard IM (14 NCAA All-Americans), 200-yard freestyle (14), 400-yard IM (12) and 200-yard breaststroke (12).
Last Season: Michigan finished fourth in 2018, its highest team finish in 20 years. Ten different individuals scored points, including five swimmers in event finals. Siobhán Haughey (200-yard freestyle) and Miranda Tucker (100-yard breaststroke) had runner-up finishes. Additionally, Christy Cutshaw finished 10th on platform to earn an All-America honorable mention, while four of the five relays scored points. » Recap
LAST TIME OUT
Big Ten Championships (Feb. 20-23): The Wolverines finished second at the Big Ten Championships, winning seven individual or relay titles and setting nine new school records. U-M won the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyles and the 200-, 400- and 800-yard freestyle relays for the program's first sprint freestyle sweep at Big Tens since 2005. Maggie MacNeil was named 2019 Freshman of the Year after winning the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, finishing second in the 100-yard backstroke, and swimming on two of the winning relay teams.
NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (March 14-16): Sophomores Camryn McPherson (one-meter) and Christy Cutshaw (platform) qualified for the NCAA Championships by virtue of their finishes at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Wolverines have now sent multiple divers to each of the last four NCAA Championships.
Wolverines Bites
• U-M is tied for the fourth-most qualifiers along with California and N.C. State. Only Stanford (18), Virginia (14) and Indiana (13) have more.
• The women's swimming and diving team has steadily risen through the national ranks since Mike Bottom took over in September 2012.
| Season | Duals | NCAA | B1G | B1G Champions | All-Americans |
| 2012-13 | 5-4 (4-2 B1G) | 36th | 6th | 0 | 0 |
| 2013-14 | 6-5 (3-4 B1G) | 30th | 5th | 1 | 1 |
| 2014-15 | 9-2 (7-0 B1G) | 22nd | 3rd | 1 | 1 |
| 2015-16 | 8-1 (6-0 B1G) | 10th | 1st | 7 | 6 |
| 2016-17 | 5-1 (4-0 B1G) | 11th | 1st | 4 | 6 |
| 2017-18 | 10-0 (7-0 B1G) | 4th | 1st | 5 | 11 |
| 2018-19 | 8-0 (5-0 B1G) | TBD | 2nd | 7 | TBD |
• Since the 2015-16 season, 17 of the 18 school records (in short-course yards) have been broken -- Courtney Beidler in the 400-yard IM (2014) is the oldest remaining -- with 10 records belonging to swimmers on the 2018-19 roster.
• Michigan is sending an experienced group to Austin, as all but Maggie MacNeil (a freshman), Camryn McPherson and Jamie Yeung (first individual berths) have previously made the NCAA Championships. Last year, Daria Pyshnenko went as a relay-only swimmer, and Chloe Hicks individually qualified at Virginia Tech. Additionally, six of the team's seven seniors get to end their collegiate careers at the NCAA Championships.
• The Wolverines enter the NCAA Championships with top-five seeds in all five relays. The last time U-M put all five relays into finals (top eight) at the same meet was 1998.
• The NCAA Championships will serve as a swan song for Siobhán Haughey, arguably one of the best swimmers in program history. Heading into the meet, she is an eight-time All-American, 11-time All-America honorable mention and 15-time Big Ten champion. Haughey is the school record-holder in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 200 IM (in both long course and short course), and she helped break four short-course relay records. She represents Hong Kong on the international stage and will set her sights on the 2020 Olympics following the collegiate season.
• Maggie MacNeil spent the year making a giant splash, setting three school records (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly) and contributing to four more on relays. She was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after winning the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly at the Big Ten Championships. A Canadian international, MacNeil is the third-fastest swimmer in history in the 100-yard butterfly from her 49.59 that won at the Big Ten Championships in February.
• Miranda Tucker has saved her best swims for the NCAA Championships. As a freshman at Indiana in 2016, she was national runner-up in the 200-yard breaststroke and took third in the 100-yard breaststroke. Last year, her first at Michigan, Tucker was national runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke and was fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke.
• Taylor Garcia earned her invite to the NCAA Championships after improving her time in the 100-yard backstroke at the OSU Last Chance Meet on March 3. She swam the event three times that day, going from 52.56 to 52.36 to slide above the cut line. Garcia has now made the NCAA Championships in all four years -- twice at Arizona (2016-17) and now twice at Michigan (2018-19).
• A breakout year for Jamie Yeung resulted in her first career berth to the NCAA Championships. Over the course of the year, Yeung made huge drops in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.71 in 2018 to 59.50 in 2019) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:12.42 in 2018 to 2:09.03 in 2019). She is the third woman in program history to break the one-minute barrier in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 2:10 mark in the 200-yard breaststroke along with Miranda Tucker and Emily Kopas (2015-18).
• U-M will have two representatives in the diving well in sophomores Camryn McPherson (one-meter) and Christy Cutshaw (platform). McPherson sat out the fall semester after transferring from Ohio State but made a quick impression and is primed for her NCAA Championships debut. Cutshaw, meanwhile, is a returning NCAA Championships scorer, finishing 10th on platform last year as a freshman. With those two headed to Austin, U-M has now sent multiple divers to the NCAA Championships in four consecutive years under diving coach Mike Hilde.
Players Mentioned
