The 200-yard backstroke is an event that lacks the explosivity of shorter sprints, the intrigue of conquering long distance or the visual magnificence of diving.
Jack Whitten
Daily Sports Writer
Men's Swimming and Diving
Whether Indiana wants to admit it or not, it has a rival in Michigan.
With Michigan reeling from back-to-back wins by Indiana swimmers, it needed a boost. Senior Tommy Cope gave the Wolverines a win and a momentum shift in the 200-yard breaststroke.
In the team’s first scored meet in over a month, the No. 6 Wolverines (3-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) were pitted against No. 5 Indiana (4-0, 2-0) and No. 23 Iowa (2-2, 0-2) in Bloomington. While Michigan came away from the meeting with a split decision – besting the Hawkeyes, 218-82, but falling to the Hoosiers, 165-135 – the stiff competition and hostile environment served as a barometer for the team’s growth and informed the unit on areas of improvement.
With clearer minds and down-to-earth expectations, Michigan turned around its performance on the final day, jumping four spots to end the NCAA Championships in 13th place.
Cope, Montague and Swanson swept first, second and third place in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events, cumulatively contributing 32 points towards a dominating 202-98 win for the No. 4 Michigan men's swimming and diving team over No. 14 Ohio State Saturday. The Wolverines took home 14 of the 16 swim events and placed first in both springboard diving events.
In one of the Wolverines’ many tight finishes of the day, Cope pulled off the upset by the narrowest of margins, besting Finnerty by a mere .01 seconds, 1:46.55 to 1:46.56.
The tight finish was one of the several high points in No. 4 Michigan’s performance at No. 3 Indiana on Thursday afternoon. Despite ultimately losing 173.5-126.5, the meet showed signs of promise for the Wolverines’ ability to compete against an elite team with few weaknesses.
All eyes were on sophomore Ricardo Vargas during the last few seconds of the 1,650-yard freestyle race as he sprinted his 66th lap and Vargas rose to the challenge.
It’s not often that swimmers from Indiana, Michigan and Minnesota’s powerhouse swimming and diving programs are all on the same team. But this weekend at the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Swimming and Diving Challenge, that’s exactly what happened.
The Michigan men’s swimming and diving team — much like its regular season — hustled for every point to return to a top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships.