In recent years, the Michigan men’s swimming and diving team has been defined by star power.

Peter Vanderkaay won four NCAA championships before graduating in 2006. His little brother, Alex Vanderkaay, won two. Thirteen-time All-American Andre Schultz and 2009 National Swimmer of the Year Tyler Clary paced the team last season, leading the Wolverines to a seventh-place overall finish at the NCAA Championships.

This year is a different story. Schultz and Clary have graduated, and the Wolverines don’t seem to have the same type of superstars ready to replace them. In addition, the team is extremely young, with just eight returning seniors to go along with 17 freshmen, many of whom are expected to contribute.

It may be a rebuilding year for the Wolverines.

But Michigan coach Mike Bottom disagrees. While the team probably won’t win as many individual championships as in recent years, he says, it is also more balanced than usual, which should compensate for the lack of star power.

“Losing Tyler and Andre is definitely tough,” Bottom said on Thursday. “But the team has been training extremely well. If we keep improving the way we are, there shouldn’t be a drop-off from the last couple years.”

The closest this team has to a star is junior Dan Madwed, a seven-time All-American himself. Madwed won Big Ten titles in four separate events last season, and he plans on showing his versatility even more this season.

“My goal is to do whatever coach Mike wants me to do,” Madwed said. “I understand that we have a lot of guys now who do the same things I do, so my goal is to be wherever Mike needs me to be and help the team as much as possible.”

Bottom views Madwed as one of the three leaders of the team, along with senior captains Neal Kennedy and Chris Douville. Kennedy and Douville both began their careers as walk-ons.

“They’re both great captains,” Bottom said. “Neither of them were highly recruited, but they’ve fought their way up the ladder. They can look at the freshmen and say, ‘Look what we’re doing. We’re captains now.’ They’re great examples of the blue-collar culture we have here. Whether they’re a top recruit or a walk-on, our swimmers come in here and battle their way to the top.”

With such a young team, that work ethic will be the key to whether the Wolverines live up to their high standards.

“I’ve never coached a team that’s improved quite so quickly as we have,” Bottom said. “Part of that is exactly because we have so many young swimmers here who are excited about being here and learning fast. Youth and inexperience isn’t always a bad thing.”

Michigan’s 17 freshmen represent the largest recruiting class in the program’s history. The most hyped of the bunch is Kyle Whitaker, the 2010 National High School Swimmer of the Year and No. 1 recruit in the country. He’s expected to be a major contributor this season.

Several other freshmen have been receiving buzz, such as distance specialist Sean Ryan, who will be going to the world championships in Dubai in December, and butterfly swimmer John Wojciechowski.

“(Ryan and Wojciechowski) have both been training well,” Bottom said. “Wojciechowski especially has been flying under the radar a little bit, but I think he’s going to come in and surprise people.”

Despite the high turnover from last season, the team’s strongest and weakest events appear to be the same as usual. The 500-m freestyle, 200-m and 400-m individual medleys, and the long distance events are traditional Michigan strengths and seem to be in good hands again.

Conversely, the diving team has always been somewhat of a weakness for the Wolverines. In an effort to improve the program, the school hired KZ Li in August as the head coach of the men’s and women’s teams. Li was the co-head coach of the U.S. Elite Diving Academy the past two seasons and, previously, Minnesota’s head diving coach from 1996 to 2003.

With Li on board, along with a strong freshman class and leadership from Madwed, Kennedy, and Douville, Bottom sees no reason why the team shouldn’t have performances similar to years past.

“(Our goal) is to win all of our Big Ten dual meets,” Bottom said. “I think we have a great shot at winning the conference. If we keep improving at this rate, we can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country.”