Neal Kennedy’s senior season was not supposed to start like this.

He was just elected captain of the Michigan men’s swimming and diving team, and visions of individual and team Big Ten championships were dancing in his head. But a nagging ankle injury — the result of a wakeboarding accident over the summer — forced him to miss the team’s first two events. There was even talk about him having to miss the entire season.

“Missing the first two events, and the idea that I might miss more, broke my heart, pretty much,” Kennedy said.

But after watching the team suffer a loss and salvage a tie in its first two events, this weekend couldn’t have gone better for Kennedy. He made a triumphant return in this weekend’s USA Swimming Minnesota Grand Prix, an event featuring both college and professional swimmers.

Kennedy led the Wolverines (2-1-1) to a strong all-around performance in Minneapolis. He swam second in the winning 800-yard freestyle relay, along with junior Dan Madwed and freshmen Kyle Whitaker and Michael Wynalda. He also led off Michigan’s 400-yard freestyle relay that finished second, and he placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breast stroke.

“My favorite part of the weekend wasn’t a specific race or anything like that,"Kennedy said. "It was just the feeling of being with the team again, doing the team stretches and seeing how everyone was behind each other, no matter what. That’s what I missed in those first two events.”

The Wolverines are relying on their largest freshman class in program history to make an impact this season. As such, so Michigan coach Mike Bottom believes that senior leadership is especially important for this team.

But Kennedy wasn’t the team's only swimmer who performed well over the weekend. In addition to its victory in the 800-yard freestyle relay, Michigan also captured the top two positions in the 400-yard medley relay. The winning quartet consisted of Madwed, senior James Ridgeway, junior Jan Konarzewski and sophomore Miguel Ortiz.

Michigan’s only individual victory of the weekend came from sophomore Ryan Feeley in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Feeley also posted the best time of any collegiate swimmer in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing fourth among all swimmers.

“Ryan had a breakout performance this weekend,” Bottom said. “Considering where he’s at right now, his times were very solid.”

Distance races have traditionally been a strong point for the Wolverines, and they appear to be in good hands again this season with Feeley leading the way.

While the Wolverines won just three events, they performed well in numerous events throughout the weekend. Eleven Wolverines in total advanced to ‘A’-level finals, and several placed. Madwed finished fifth in the 200-yard butterfly. Whitaker touched the wall sixth in the 400-yard individual medley. Konarzewski and sophomore Connor McCaroll finished sixth and seventh in the 200-yard backstroke.

While the USA Swimming Minnesota Grand Prix isn’t a team event and doesn’t factor into any rankings or standings, strong results come with great prestige for the swimmers involved. More important, it provides valuable experience for future events, especially for a young team like Michigan.

“What’s special about an event like this is that you’re swimming against some of the best in the world,” Bottom said. “That means there’s no pressure, which allows our swimmers to focus on improvement and maybe experiment a little more. But it also means that it’s a great learning experience.”