Entering the Big Ten Championship as an underdog, the Wolverines are ready to shock the rest of the conference.
Connor Earegood
Daily Sports Writer
Men's Swimming and Diving
Michigan men's swimming and diving has championship hopes, and it is not letting the 14-day pause which just concluded diminish those hopes one bit. The team found creative ways to workout while facilities were closed, and they have since hopped back into the pool with enthusiasm abound.
A deconditioning cycle like the Michigan swim and dive teams’ will experience during the University’s 14-day freeze on athletics could set the Wolverines back significantly after weeks of heavy training.
The Wolverines concentrated on honoring more than a century of competition with their in-state foe, focusing not on their 159-77 victory but rather the meaning of the last meet against the Spartans.
Last time the No. 7 Michigan men’s swimming and diving team (1-1) competed at Indiana’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center, the Wolverines took home a Big Ten championship.
As others his age embarked on their final year as college students last August, Nadav Aaronson set foot on campus for the first time. The native of Ramot Hashavim, Israel was a wide-eyed freshman — at 21 years old.
Aaronson found himself surrounded by new classmates who, at three years his junior, were the same age as his younger sister, and all had mostly followed the same linear path. High school bled into college, one a stepping stone for the next.
It’s a path Aaronson wasn’t offered. Instead, the Israeli Defense Force beckons.
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.
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.