Michigan Readies for Title Defense at Big Ten Championships

Tuesday, March 2

Columbus, Ohio

5:00 PM

Michigan

Big Ten Championships - Day 1

Men's Swimming and Diving Team Huddle Generic

(Michigan Photography)

Michigan Readies for Title Defense at Big Ten Championships

2/24/2021 11:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

By: Brad Rudner

» The No. 11-ranked Wolverines look to defend their team title at the Big Ten Championships, held next Tuesday through Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
» Last season, Michigan snapped a three-year run of runner-up finishes to win title No. 41, the most of any program in the Big Ten.
» Though it replaced a large senior class from last year, the five seniors on the roster -- Luiz Gustavo Borges, Chris Canning, Will Roberts, Ross Todd and Ricardo Vargas -- have plenty of experience, combining for 29 'A' finals and 925 career points.

THIS WEEK
Tue-Sat., March 2-6 -- at Big Ten Championships (Columbus, Ohio), 11 a.m./6:30 p.m.
Meet Central

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The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team looks to defend its team title at the Big Ten Championships next Tuesday through Saturday (March 2-6) at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. The five-day event begins Tuesday with two relays at 5 p.m., while the remaining four days will see preliminaries at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.

The diving portion of the Big Ten Championships will be held Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 25-27) at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind. Points scored by the divers will be factored into the team race. [ Preview ]

Schedule of Events

Tuesday, March 2 (5 p.m.)
200-yard Medley Relay
800-yard Freestyle Relay

Wednesday, March 3 (11 a.m./6:30 p.m.)
200-yard IM
50-yard Freestyle
500-yard Freestyle
400-yard Medley Relay

Thursday, March 4 (11 a.m./6:30 p.m.)
100-yard Butterfly
400-yard IM
200-yard Freestyle

Friday, March 5 (11 a.m./6:30 p.m.)
100-yard Backstroke
100-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle Relay

Saturday, March 6 (11 a.m./6:30 p.m.)
100-yard Freestyle
1,650-yard Freestyle (heats begin at 4:15 p.m.; final heat follows 100-yard Freestyle)
200-yard Backstroke
200-yard Breaststroke
400-yard Freestyle Relay

Scoring Format

A Final Scoring: 32-28-27-26-25-24-23-22
B Final Scoring: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11
C Final Scoring: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Relay Scoring: 64-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-40-34

Note: Only A and B finals (championship and consolation) will be contested in the diving events.

Big Ten Championships History

Titles: Michigan has won 41 Big Ten Conference team championships, the most of any conference member (Indiana is second with 26). In total, U-M has won 534 individual, relay or diving titles -- 382 in individual swimming events, 133 on relays and 19 in diving.

Last Year:: In what ended up being the final team event before the COVID-19 pandemic shut sports down, the Wolverines put an end to a three-year run of runner-up finishes by claiming the team trophy in Bloomington, Ind. The then-senior class led the way, as Felix Auböck (500-yard Freestyle, 1650-yard Freestyle), Tommy Cope (200-yard Breaststroke), Miles Smachlo (100-yard Butterfly) and Charlie Swanson (400-yard IM) each won conference titles. Ross Todd became the first Michigan diver to win a conference title on any event in 16 years, claiming the top prize on one-meter. The 800-yard freestyle relay also stood atop the podium. [ Recap ]

Awards: A Michigan swimmer has been named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year in 20 of the last 27 seasons: Marcel Wouda (1993), Tom Dolan (1994-95), Derya Buyukuncu (1996), John Piersma (1997), Tom Malchow (1998), Chris Thompson (1999 (co), 2001), Dan Ketchum (2002), Peter Vanderkaay (2004 [co], 2005, 2006 [co]), Alex Vanderkaay (2008), Tyler Clary (2009-10), Dan Madwed (2012), Connor Jaeger (2013-14), Dylan Bosch (2015) and Felix Auböck (2017, 2020).

Sixteen student-athletes have been named Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Scott Ryan (1988), Gustavo Borges (1992), Royce Sharp (1993), Tom Dolan (1994), Jason Lancaster (1995), Chris Thompson (1998), Jeff Hopwood and Tim Siciliano (1999), Dan Ketchum (2001), Brendan Neligan (2002), Peter Vanderkaay (2003), Kyle Whitaker (2011), Dylan Bosch (2014), Evan White (2015), Felix Auböck (2017) and Ricardo Vargas (2018).

Additionally, 12 Wolverines have been named Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships: Marcel Wouda (1993), Gustavo Borges (1995), Derya Buyukuncu (1996, 1998), John Piersma (1997), Chris Thompson (1999), Alex Vanderkaay (2008 [co]), Tyler Clary (2009-10), Dan Madwed (2012) and Dylan Bosch (2015-16).

Senior Ross Todd is the reigning Big Ten Diver of the Year and was Co-Diver of the Championships at last year's meet. He is the only Wolverine to win the Big Ten Diver of the Year award and the second to share the Big Ten Diver of the Championships award (Jason Coben, 2003).

Team Notes

• After a season of challenges and pauses, the Wolverines have reached the postseason. The men's team, in particular, began the season coping with the loss of Ian Miskelley, who passed away on Sept. 7. Training was interrupted in November right before its planned midseason meet and again in late January when the entire Michigan athletic department entered a mandatory two-week pause. [ How Michigan Swimming and Diving Navigated Through Fall of Sudden Change (Dec. 14, 2020) ]

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two big adjustments were made to the Big Ten Championships schedule. The first was holding the diving portion completely separate from swimming, though scores from that site will be factored into team races at the men's and women's championship meets. The second was expanding the meet to five days instead of the usual four.

• The Wolverines are ranked No. 11 in the most recent CSCAA/TYR Top 25, released on Feb. 11. They went 2-1 in dual meets, defeating Northwestern on Jan. 16 (229.5-70.5) and Michigan State on Jan. 22 (159-77). Its planned rivalry meet with Ohio State on Feb. 6 was canceled due to the department-wide pause.

• Though this year's senior class is small, it has had incredible success at the Big Ten Championships. The quintet of Luiz Gustavo Borges, Chris Canning, Will Roberts, Ross Todd and Ricardo Vargas have combined for 29 'A' finals and 925 points in their careers.

• Several members of the junior class have hit new personal records this season on little rest. At the team's November intrasquad -- the meet done on little rest or prep due to the state executive order -- Mason Hunter went 51.88 in the 100-yard breaststroke and 1:54.75 in the 200-yard breaststroke, vaulting to No. 5 and No. 9, respectively, on the school's all-time performers list. Jared Daigle went faster in the 200-yard backstroke (1:43.51) and in the 400-yard IM (3:48.28) than he did at the Big Ten Championships last year.

• The Wolverines graduated more than 500 points off last year's Big Ten Championship squad, including four men who won individual conference titles. Replacing them are a group of talented freshmen, highlighted by Wyatt Davis and Jake Mitchell, a pair of teammates from Carmel, Ind. Mitchell is a member of the 2020-21 U.S. National Team, while Davis is a member of the U.S. Junior National Team. Several others have international experience under their belt, including James LeBuke and Bence Szabados at the 2019 FINA World Junior Championships and Yugo Tsukikawa at the 2019 Pan American Games.

Up Next

Sun-Tue., March 6-8 -- at NCAA Zone C Diving Championships (Lexington, Ky.), TBA
Wed-Sat., March 24-27 -- at NCAA Championships (Greensboro, N.C.), TBA