With the NCAA title finally in hand, it was time for Michigan head coach Mike Bottom to have some fun of his own. Adorned in a plaid maize-and-blue shirt, a blue tie emblazoned with Wolverines and dark brown pants, Bottom leaped off the starting blocks and into the diving pool, joining the celebration of the newly crowned Michigan men’s swimming team.

“It’s definitely time to celebrate,” Bottom said. “This team has worked hard all year at every meet and has swam fast since they got off on the block. They swam fast all throughout the season, and they got here and kept swimming fast.”

The meet spanned from Thursday to Saturday at IU Natatorium in Indianapolis – the exact location the Wolverines won their last title in 1995.

“We have a lot of great alumni that have sent me pictures of them swimming around in that pool,” Bottom said, with a chuckle, in his press conference. “And we put some of those pictures up and had some of them come in and talk to us about that feeling.”

With preparation, poise and perhaps a little luck, the Wolverines were ready to make their run at a title.

The quartet of sophomore Bruno Ortiz, graduate student Zachary Turke, and seniors Sean Fletcher and Miguel Ortiz got Michigan its first points of the meet, placing third in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Wolverines would finish the night with another third-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay event, as the quartet of Miguel Ortiz, sophomore Richard Funk, Fletcher, and Bruno Ortiz clocked in at 3:04.73, setting a school record.

Michigan’s only win of the day came by way of junior Connor Jaeger in the 500-yard freestyle, who became the fifth Wolverine ever to win the event. Jaeger had won the event outright for Michigan throughout the season, usually leading the race right from the start. His record looked to be in danger though, as Texas' Michael McBroom wouldn’t allow Jaeger any separation. At the 150-yard mark, Jaeger finally made his move, holding off McBroom for the event win, helping Michigan take the day one lead with 153 points.

The second day followed a similar script, with the Wolverines' relay teams making headlines. In the first event final of the night, the quartet of Miguel Ortiz, Bruno Ortiz, Fletcher and Turke took first-place in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:22.27, setting new NCAA, U.S. Open, NCAA Championship and school records. The win also marked the first time a Michigan relay team has ever won a national title in the NCAA Championship’s 76-year history.

“We started out with one recruiting class that we were scrambling with because we came in late,” Bottom said at his press conference. “And these are the guys, you know, we had four of them on that relay that broke the national record and it’s awesome to see.”

The Wolverines also received significant contributions from Fletcher and Funk, both placing third in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard breaststroke, respectively. With a second-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay, the team of junior Michael Wynalda, Jaeger, freshman Anders Nielsen and redshirt junior Hassaan Khalik helped Michigan end the night in first place with 336 points.

“We didn't have a real confidence that we would win this,” Bottom said to ESPN on March 30. “By the second day, I looked at our team and I said, ‘Alright, we've gotten in the top three, now what do you want to do?’ They looked at me like I was crazy. They looked at me and said, ‘We came here to win.’ ”

And with Jaeger’s first-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, Michigan inched ever closer to a national championship. With the event win, Jaeger became the first swimmer for Michigan to win two individual events since Tyler Clary – a gold medalist in this summer’s Olympics – accomplished the feat in 2009.

And surely enough, the Wolverines rounded out the event with a second-place finish in yet another relay. With a time of 2:50.18, Miguel Ortiz, Turke, Fletcher and Bruno Ortiz ensured Michigan 34 points and a National Championship.

“We never took our eyes off the big show, but we went into every meet and we wanted to win, and we swam fast all year: swam fast in dual meets, swam fast in conference and we kept getting better,” Jaeger said. “We kept believing, we kept following the program we have set, and this is a team fueled by passion. ...