When the final team scores were announced at the Big Ten swimming and diving championships Saturday night, no one at the Purdue Boilermaker Aquatic Center was surprised.

After winning the first three events of the meet, No. 4 Michigan held on to its lead for the entire three-day event and successfully defended its Big Ten title, winning the program's 34th conference championship.

And none of the scores were even close.

On February 27, after the first day of competition, Michigan led the field of ten teams by over 120 points. After two days, the lead grew to over 200 points. And at the end of the meet, the Wolverines were a whopping 308 points ahead of second-place Ohio State.

The team celebrated on the swim deck in their new championship hats and T-shirts, and then the party continued in the pool when the swimmers, coaches and even the trophy were pushed into the diving well. As the team splashed around and sang The Victors, first-year Michigan coach Mike Bottom said he floated around and simply watched his team enjoy the victory.

"It was fun watching the guys swim their best and it was fun to watch them celebrate," Bottom said. "We went in with a focus on getting guys to qualify for the NCAA championship meet. We knew if our guys were qualifying, then we would win the meet, and we did. The points weren't something we thought a lot about."

Bottom estimated that 15 swimmers secured qualifying times and possibly three or four more could be added. Last season, the team took 12 swimmers to the NCAA championship meet.

Michigan absolutely dominated the meet from start to finish, winning 13 of the 18 swimming events. No other team won more than two events.

Sophomore Tyler Clary was named the Big Ten's Swimmer of the Year and the Swimmer of the Championships. Clary broke a record in each of his events, including a school record in the 200-yard backstroke and a Big Ten record in the 200-yard individual medley. Clary also set an NCAA record in the 400-yard individual medley (3:38.03) which was formerly held by three-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte. Michigan has now won that event in 11 consecutive seasons.

"I felt really good in the water," Clary said about his race in the 400-yard individual medley. "I didn't think I was going to go so fast, I thought I would swim a 3:39 high or a 40 low. But as I turned to start the breaststroke, I heard the roar of the crowd get louder, which was cool. So I knew I was swimming fast at that point and I just buckled down and tried to get my hands on the wall."

Senior co-captains Matt Patton and Bobby Savulich also had outstanding swims. Patton won the 500-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle events and Savulich won the 100-yard freestyle. Patton, who was tired from a challenging week of training leading up to the meet, said his race in the 1,650-yard freestyle was the most painful race of his career.

"Basically, Matt just gutted it out," Bottom said. "He didn't win it easily. There was a guy right there racing him and we all watched Matt fight his way through that race."

But Michigan's overall margin of victory was not built on first-place finishes alone. In fact, the team's top swimmers were all quick to share the credit for the Big Ten title with their teammates.

Bottom said the team's victory was built on swims where the athletes overcame some kind of difficulty to swim well — swims like junior Alon Mandel's race in the backstroke. Mandel had three races on Friday, all 20 minutes apart. Bottom advised Mandel to back off on his middle race to save his energy and win his final race, the 100-yard backstroke. Mandel tied for fifth in the 100-yard butterfly, the middle race, and first in the backstroke.

"Alon said to me, 'That's not the Michigan way.' And I just said, 'You do it your way, go for it," Bottom said. "I'm still learning from these guys about the tradition of this program and being a Michigan man means having a drive that goes beyond points and winning, it's a attitude of not giving up and learning from competition and applying it to life."

Michigan has clearly been the best team in the Big Ten all season, finishing undefeated in conference dual meets. Savulich called the atmosphere on deck for Michigan "relaxed" and said the Wolverines felt more comfortable being the team with the lead instead of trying to catch up.

"When it counted, our guys were pumped and ready to swim fast," Savulich said.