For most students, a long weekend is a time to relax and get ready for the long haul before the next break. But the No. 13 Michigan men’s swimming and diving team used the holiday weekend for a different purpose.

The Wolverines (1-1 Big Ten, 4-2-1 overall) swept the three meets they participated in and improved their times and splits.

The busy weekend began when nine Michigan swimmers traveled to the SMU Classic in Dallas, Texas to compete against some of the elite men’s swimming and diving teams in the country.

The Wolverines jumped out to an early lead on Friday behind a first-place finish in the 100-meter butterfly by junior Dan Madwed. On Saturday, sophomore Miguel Ortiz and freshman Kyle Whitaker paced the Wolverines with strong finishes in a number of races to clinch the team’s third straight SMU Classic Title.

“There were no stars in this meet,” Michigan coach Mike Bottom said on Sunday. “We had a couple wins, but a lot of seconds, thirds, and fourths, which, in a team contest, that’s what’s going to do it for you.”

While a portion of the team was off competing in Texas, the rest of the squad swam to a victory against Eastern Michigan on Saturday morning. Senior Tony Wahl and sophomore Evan Gregg led the Wolverines with two victories each, as seven Michigan swimmers came out with individual victories.

Michigan came back together as a team on Sunday to face No. 21 Purdue in a conference dual meet. Ortiz continued his strong weekend and contributed to the Wolverines' 134.5-108.5 victory.

He swept his individual events on Sunday, winning the 50 and 100-yard freestyles, and was a member of the first place 200-yard medley relay team as well. His performance came on the heels of an impressive showing in last weekend’s Big Ten-opener loss to Indiana.

“I really just worked on the details in practice this week,” Ortiz said. “These meets are stepping stones to the Big Ten’s and if I can help the team moving forward, then I’m happy with that.”

Bottom was quick to note Ortiz’s improvement since he came onto the Michigan squad last year.

“He competed against some of the best swimmers in the country at SMU. He’s a developing sprinter,” Bottom said. “He’s a kid that came in as pretty much a walk-on and he’s developed. That’s what we do here … we develop the talent that these guys bring in.”

While the weekend put the Wolverines back on track in the win column, the team also finished the weekend with an added sense of trust, according to Ortiz.

“I think this weekend was more about the trust of the team than anything,” Ortiz said. “One (part of the) team went to SMU while the other stayed for the EMU contest and I think the trust was built even more because of that.”

Bottom echoed those sentiments, saying that the team gained “confidence, camaraderie, and toughness” over the weekend. Those will only help when it comes to the Big Ten — and ultimately — the NCAA Championships.