Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Wolverines Win Two Medals to Open Big Ten Championships
2/19/2020 8:24:00 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving
» After the first day, Michigan sits in first place (118 points). Ohio State is in second (112 points).
» The Wolverines won the 200-yard medley relay for the first time since 2000, setting a new school record (1:34.21).
» Maggie MacNeil swam the fastest 50-yard backstroke in history on the leadoff leg of the 200-yard medley relay (23.05).
» U-M also took third in the 800-yard freestyle relay, achieving an NCAA 'B' cut (7:01.22).
Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Campus Recreation and Wellness Center)
Event: Big Ten Championships (Day 1 of 4)
U-M Team Standing: 1st place of 13 Teams (118 points)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Feb. 20 -- at Big Ten Championships - Day 2 (Iowa City, Iowa), 11 a.m./6:30 p.m. CST
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team won a pair of relay medals, including its first win in the 200-yard medley relay in 20 years, on the opening night of the Big Ten Championships on Wednesday (Feb. 19) at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. The Wolverines are in first place after the first two events (118 points).
"To win that first relay and set a school record, it really fired everyone up," said head coach Mike Bottom. "With the 800-yard freestyle relay, we lost some pretty big pieces off last year's team. To finish third is a positive step for us. We're off to a great start, but tonight showed that this is going to be a hard-fought meet all the way through."
The Wolverines began the meet with a bang, winning the 200-yard medley relay for the first time at the Big Ten Championships since 2000 and setting a new school record (1:34.21). Sophomore Maggie MacNeil (23.05 on backstroke) and senior Miranda Tucker (26.20 on breaststroke) both had the fastest splits of the field and gave Michigan more than a second-and-a-half lead at the halfway point. Juniors Claire Maiocco (23.64 on butterfly) and Daria Pyshnenko (21.32 on freestyle) brought home the win by nearly a second over Ohio State. It is also the second-fastest time in the country this season.
According to SwimSwam, MacNeil's opening-leg split was the fastest in history for a 50-yard backstroke, besting the previous record of 23.36 from Rachel Bootsma (Cal).
WATCH: The foursome of Maggie MacNeil, Miranda Tucker, Claire Maiocco and Daria Pyshnenko come out firing with a new school record to win the 200-yard Medley Relay (1:34.21). #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/tcQDg61igL
— Michigan Swimming & Diving (@umichswimdive) February 19, 2020
Michigan ended the night with a bronze medal in the 800-yard freestyle relay behind freshman Kaitlynn Sims, senior Chloe Hicks, junior Sierra Schmidt and sophomore Olivia Carter (7:01.22). Both Hicks (1:44.32) and Carter (1:44.97) had sub-1:45.00 splits on the relay.
The Big Ten Championships will resume Thursday (Feb. 20) with preliminaries at 11 a.m. CST and finals at 6:30 p.m. CST. Diving preliminaries will begin at 1 p.m.
Results
Team Standings
1. MICHIGAN 118
2. Ohio State 112
3. Wisconsin 108
4. Northwestern 102
5. Minnesota 98
T6. Purdue 92
Iowa 92
8. Penn State 84
9. Michigan State 76
10. Nebraska 72
11. Rutgers 66
12. Illinois 58
13. Indiana 50
200-yard Medley Relay
1. MICHIGAN 1:34.21*MP
(Maggie MacNeil, Miranda Tucker,
Claire Maiocco, Daria Pyshnenko)
800-yard Freestyle Relay
1. Wisconsin 6:55.84* (Lillie Hosack, Alana Palmer, Megan Doty, Beata Nelson) 3. MICHIGAN 7:01.22# (Kaitlynn Sims, Chloe Hicks, Sierra Schmidt, Olivia Carter)
* NCAA 'A' standard
# NCAA 'B' standard
^ NCAA Zone Diving standard
A American Record
N NCAA Record
B Big Ten Record
% Big Ten Championships Record
M University of Michigan Record
P Pool Record
Players Mentioned
