Michigan’s new men’s swimming and diving coach Mike Bottom has built a reputation as one of the world’s best sprinting coaches, and on Friday night, his team showed why.

The Wolverines won both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events, something they haven't done since last October against Eastern Michigan, and swept the top three positions in both races.

The dominating sprint performances propelled No. 5 Michigan to a 182-115 victory over No. 4 Florida in the season opener at Canham Natatorium.

Over the last two decades, Michigan has become a powerhouse program for distance swimmers. Many wondered how the Wolverines would perform after training with Bottom, who became famous for his work with sprinters, including 10-time Olympic medalist Gary Hall Jr.

“A lot of people didn’t think we had any sprinters at Michigan,” Bottom said. “I think today, we showed them that we do. I did not expect that, but it sure is nice to see that the guys are responding to the speed training."

Michigan junior Chris Brady (20.45) won the 50-yard freestyle, followed by senior co-captains Bobby Savulich and Jamie Martone in second and third. In the 100-yard freestyle, Savulich finished first (45.28), Brady second and junior Charlie Houchin third.

After seven weeks of training hard and adjusting to a new coaching staff, Savulich was proud of the way Michigan performed in its first meet.

“This was the true beginning of a new era — a new chapter in Michigan swimming,” he said. “Even though our training is different, the coaching is different and our team outlook is different, we’re still keeping the same level of tradition, pride and intensity that we’ve always had.”

The meet began with a small disappointment when Michigan lost the 400-yard medley relay by just 0.55 seconds. But the Wolverines bounced back quickly and went on to win 13 of the meet's 16 events, including both diving competitions.

Though Michigan displayed new strength in sprinting, the team continued to dominate long-distance events. Senior co-captain Matt Patton easily won the 1,000-yard freestyle and junior Adam DeJong touched out Florida's Shaune Fraser to win the 500-yard freestyle.

In the diving well, senior Kyle Schroeder won the one- and three-meter springboard competitions. Michigan diving coach Chris Bergère said Schroeder took his diving to "another level" Friday night.

"I think the biggest change for him is his confidence," Bergère said. "In these dual meets, at home with a big crowd, he thrived...he dove better than I have seen him dive on one-meter and three-meter."

Sophomore Tyler Clary also had a outstanding meet, winning all three of his individual races, including a close finish with Houchin in the 200-yard freestyle. With just 50 yards remaining, Clary and Houchin were even. But Clary (1:38.53) finished first, just two one-hundredths of a second before his teammate.

During the meet, Bottom talked with his swimmers several times about technical changes for their next races. He used some of the team's best performances to motivate the other swimmers.

“Clary was excellent today,” Bottom said. “After his 200 freestyle, we talked about what he could be doing differently and when he made that change we were really excited. I used him as an example with the team as someone who went in, made a change and then won his 200 backstroke race right afterward.”

Bottom has focused the Wolverines on learning and adjusting. The change is already obvious to Savulich, who said the team’s sprint and distance training have made the team more balanced.

“Three years ago, if someone had told me we could sweep the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, I never would have believed them,” Savulich said. “Since I was a freshman, they have been such a weak spot for Michigan and for us to sweep those events, it really shows what Mike’s already done for us.”