Michigan
NCAA Championships
Auböck Wins 1,650 Freestyle for U-M on Final Day of NCAA Championships
3/30/2019 9:55:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
» The Wolverines finished 13th (99 points), jumping four spots on the final day.
» Felix Auböck won the national title in the 1,650-yard freestyle (14:23.09), coming within a second of the NCAA record.
» Charlie Swanson won the consolation final of the 200-yard breaststroke, recording the second-fastest time in school history (1:52.09). Tommy Cope joined Swanson in the heat, finishing 11th (1:52.91).
» Luiz Gustavo Borges set a school record in the 100-yard freestyle, leading off the 400-yard freestyle relay during the morning in 42.21.
Site: Austin, Texas (Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 4 of 4)
U-M Team Standing: 13th place (99 points)
Next U-M Event: Season completed
AUSTIN, Texas -- Junior Felix Auböck won the national title in the 1,650-yard freestyle to lead the University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team on the final day of the NCAA Championships on Saturday (March 30) inside the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The Wolverines leapfrogged four teams on the final day to finish 13th (99 points). California won the team title (560 points).
After runner-up finishes in back-to-back seasons and a few tough swims earlier in the week, Auböck rebounded to win the national title in the 1,650-yard freestyle and continued the dominance of the Michigan distance program. His time of 14:23.09 came within a second of the NCAA record (14:22.41) set by former Texas swimmer Clark Smith in 2017. Auböck was remarkably steady the entire race, keeping his splits after the 200-yard mark all under 26.50. He got to the wall more than four seconds clear of Indiana's Michael Brinegar and was just two-tenths of a second off his career best (14:22.88, 2017).
Auböck is the 109th student-athlete in program history to win a national title and joins a distinguished group of Michigan distance swimmers to have won the 1,650-yard freestyle, appearing alongside Marcel Wouda (1993), Tom Dolan (1995-96), Chris Thompson (2001) and Connor Jaeger (2013-14) -- all former Olympic swimmers. He is the first Michigan swimmer to win a national title since both Jaeger (1,650-yard freestyle) and Dylan Bosch (200-yard butterfly) won in 2014, a meet that coincidentally was also held at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. Sophomore Ricardo Vargas joined Auböck in the last heat, finishing 22nd (14:51.71).
The Wolverines had two swimmers score points in the consolation final of the 200-yard breaststroke. Junior Charlie Swanson had a rebound swim of his own, using a late charge to win and take ninth overall with the second-fastest time in school history (1:52.09). Junior Tommy Cope joined him in the heat -- missing the final in preliminaries by just .01 seconds -- and finished 11th overall (1:52.91). It represented a big jump for Cope, who came into the meet seeded 21st and out of scoring position. He has now scored in that event in three consecutive years. Juniors Jeremy Babinet (25th, 1:54.79) and Jacob Montague (44th, 1:56.73) also capped their seasons in preliminaries.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Luiz Gustavo Borges, Swanson, junior Miles Smachlo and Cope made it back for a second swim, adding a few points to Michigan's total with a 16th-place finish (2:52.39). Borges set the school record in the 100-yard freestyle during the morning, leading off the relay in 42.21 to pass Bruno Ortiz (42.26, 2015). He also notably passed his father, Gus Borges, who was previously third (42.46, 1994) on the list.
Sophomore Ross Todd capped a solid sophomore season with a 35th-place finish on platform (267.25). Todd made breakthroughs in his second year in Ann Arbor, winning the silver medal on platform at last month's Big Ten Championships. Under diving coach Mike Hilde, U-M qualified two divers to the NCAA Championships -- Todd and junior Jake Herremans -- for the first time since 1999.
Smachlo led the way in the 200-yard butterfly, ending his meet in 35th (1:44.60). The team's lone senior at the meet, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, swam his final race as Wolverine during the morning, taking 38th in the 200-yard butterfly (1:45.53).
ALL-AMERICANS
Felix Auböck: 1,650-yard Freestyle (1st)
Miles Smachlo: 100-yard Butterfly (3rd)
Ricardo Vargas: 500-yard Freestyle (4th)
ALL-AMERICA HONORABLE MENTIONS
Luiz Gustavo Borges: 50-yard Freestyle (15th)
Patrick Callan: 500-yard Freestyle (10th)
Tommy Cope: 400-yard IM (10th), 200-yard Breaststroke (11th)
Charlie Swanson: 200-yard Breaststroke (9th)
Ricardo Vargas: 400-yard IM (9th)
400-yard Freestyle Relay: Luiz Gustavo Borges, Charlie Swanson, Miles Smachlo, Tommy Cope (16th)
800-yard Freestyle Relay: Patrick Callan, Charlie Swanson, Mokhtar Al-Yamani, Felix Auböck (13th)
Team Standings (Top 10)
1. California 560 2. Texas 475 3. Indiana 385.5 4. North Carolina St. 307 5. Louisville 212 6. Florida 164 7. Alabama 142 8. Harvard 132 9. Ohio St. 124 10. Virginia 106 --- 13. MICHIGAN 99
1,650-yard Freestyle
1. Felix Auböck, U-M 14:23.09P 22. Ricardo Vargas, U-M 14:51.71
200-yard Breaststroke
1. Andrew Seliskar, California 1:48.70 9. Charlie Swanson, U-M 1:52.09 11. Tommy Cope, U-M 1:52.91 (1:52.76) 25. Jeremy Babinet, U-M 1:54.79 44. Jacob Montague, U-M 1:56.73
200-yard Butterfly
1. Andreas Vazaios, NC State 1:38.57P 35. Miles Smachlo, U-M 1:44.60 38. Mokhtar Al-Yamani, U-M 1:45.53
Platform Diving
1. Jordan Windle, Texas 447.00 35. Ross Todd, U-M 267.25
400-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Texas 2:45.12P (Daniel Krueger, John Shebat, Tate Jackson, Townley Haas) 16. MICHIGAN 2:52.39 (2:51.95) (Luiz Gustavo Borges, Charlie Swanson, Miles Smachlo, Tommy Cope) A American Record N NCAA Record U U.S. Open Record B Big Ten Record P Pool Record M University of Michigan Record
Players Mentioned
