Season Preview: 2019-20 Michigan Men's Swimming and Diving
9/13/2019 11:42:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving
The University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team enters its 99th season of varsity competition with high hopes for hardware. Led by a large and dynamic senior class, the Wolverines have the tools to recapture the Big Ten championship and return to the top 10 of the team standings at the NCAA Championships.
The Wolverines will open the season Friday and Saturday, Sept. 20-21, at Canham Natatorium, when they host Miami University and Navy. The meet will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 20) and will continue at 10 a.m. on Saturday (Sept. 21). Admission is free.
2018-19 Season Review
• Record: 7-1 (4-1 Big Ten)
• Big Ten Championships: 2nd (1,464 points)
• NCAA Championships: 13th (99 points)
• NCAA Champions (1): Felix Auböck (1,650-yard freestyle)
• Big Ten Champions (5): Felix Auböck (500-yard Freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle), Miles Smachlo (100-yard butterfly), Charlie Swanson (400-yard IM), 200-yard Medley Relay
• CSCAA All-Americans (3): Felix Auböck (1,650-yard freestyle), Miles Smachlo (100-yard butterfly), Ricardo Vargas (500-yard freestyle)
• CSCAA All-America Honorable Mentions (8): Luiz Gustavo Borges (50-yard freestyle), Patrick Callan (500-yard freestyle), Tommy Cope (400-yard IM, 200-yard breaststroke), Charlie Swanson (200-yard breaststroke), Ricardo Vargas (400-yard IM), 400-yard Freestyle Relay, 800-yard Freestyle Relay
Roster Breakdown
• Distance: The famed "Michigan Distance" group added hardware last year in the form of a national title from now-senior Felix Auböck in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Auböck has been one of the NCAA's top distance swimmers since his arrival in Ann Arbor, sweeping the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyles in all three of his years at the Big Ten Championships. Junior Ricardo Vargas is an NCAA Championships scorer and returning All-American, while junior Will Roberts improved greatly last season, scoring top-eight finishes in all three of his swims at last year's Big Ten Champiosnhips.
Sophomore Bora Unalmis offers an intriguing skill set after swimming the 500-yard freestyle, 400-yard IM and 200-yard backstroke at last year's Big Ten Championships. Also look out for freshman Danny Berlitz, a fast-improving prospect who was a four-time Pennsylvania state champion in high school.
• Sprint & Mid-Distance Freestyle: Junior Luiz Gustavo Borges leads the way in the sprints, as he aims to become the second man in program history to crack the 19-second barrier in the 50-yard freestyle (was 19.11 last year). The son of famed Michigan sprinter Gus Borges had three top-10 finishes at the Big Ten Championships and set a school record in the 100-yard freestyle (42.21) at the NCAA Championships. An influx of freshmen reinforce the group, as Parker Hughes, Cam Peel and Andrew Trepanier are all former high school state champions in sprint freestyle events.
Sophomore Patrick Callan, a versatile freestyler, finished last season on the school's all-time top performers list, ranking No. 6 in the 200-yard freestyle and No. 7 in the 500-yard freestyle. He finished fifth in the 200-meter freestyle at this summer's Phillips 66 National Championships, where he came within .11 seconds of breaking the school's 14-year long-course record that is held by Olympian Peter Vanderkaay.
• Backstroke: Three seniors offer scoring potential in the backstroke. Alex Martin and Rob Zofchak -- two of the team's four captains -- are Big Ten Championships scorers, while Alex King (a redshirt junior), led off the team's medley relays in the postseason last year. King swam on the Big Ten title-winning 200-yard medley relay and posted the fourth-fastest time in school history with a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (46.38).
• Butterfly: Senior Miles Smachlo has been stellar for the last seven months. At the Big Ten Championships in February, he won the 100-yard butterfly, set a school record and became the first man in program history to break the 45-second barrier. He then won a bronze medal in the same event at the NCAA Championships, a big improvement after he finished 33rd a year before. At the Phillips 66 National Championships in early August, he won a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly and cemented his spot on the 2019-20 U.S. National Team. Freshman River Wright is perhaps best for the 200-yard IM, but has a strong butterfly background as he finished third in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2018 Speedo Junior National Championships.
• Breaststroke: It is arguably the deepest group on the team, led by a quartet of seniors. Jacob Montague and Jeremy Babinet are multi-time NCAA Championships qualifiers and rank third and fourth, respectively, on the school's all-time list for the 100-yard breaststroke. There is a wealth of depth behind them in sophomores Will Chan (No. 5 in school history in the 100-yard breaststroke), Mason Hunter (No. 8 in school history in the 100-yard breaststroke, No. 10 in the 200-yard breaststroke) and AJ Bornstein.
Seniors Tommy Cope and Charlie Swanson, though strongest in the IMs, have roots in breaststroke and rank 1-2 in school history in the 200-yard breaststroke. Cope is a former All-American who finished seventh in 2018, while Swanson was ninth last season. The pair also have their names on the program's top-10 list in both the 200- and 400-yard IMs. Swanson was named to the 2019-20 U.S. National Team after he won a gold medal in the 400-meter IM at the Pan American Games in August.
• Diving: Last year, U-M sent two divers (Ross Todd, Jake Herremans) to the NCAA Championships for the first time in 20 years. Todd finaled in two events at the Big Ten Championships -- second on platform and seventh on three-meter. He was the first Michigan men's diver to win a medal on platform since Jason Coben in 2004. Junior Chris Canning is a returning Big Ten Championships scorer, while freshman Nick Leavell brings potential after he finished sixth at the 2019 California State Diving Championships.
2019-20 Schedule
• The Wolverines have eight dual meets this season: Navy/Miami Univ. (Sept. 20-21), Tennessee/Virginia (Oct. 18-19), at Indiana/vs. Iowa (Nov. 2), Indiana (Jan. 11), at Ohio State (Jan. 18) and Michigan State (Jan. 31).
• For its midseason meet, U-M will travel to Minneapolis for the Minnesota Invite (Dec. 4-8). The Wolverines will attempt to hit this year's NCAA Championships qualifying standards.
• The Big Ten Championships will be held Feb. 26-29 in Bloomington, Indiana. Divers will attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, which will be held March 12-14 in Lexington, Kentucky. The NCAA Championships will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, from March 25-28.
Players Mentioned
