From a distance, one might have mistaken a midnight blue and gold Toledo swim cap for that of a Wolverine’s.
But Friday at Canham Natatorium, it was clear who was touching the wall first.
The Michigan women’s swimming and diving team celebrated its home opener Friday with a dominating 183-109 victory over Toledo.
The Wolverines (1-1) won 13-of-14 swimming events and both diving events. The Rockets (3-1) won just the 50-yard freestyle.
Michigan set the tone early by grabbing the top-two finishes in the 200-yard medley relay, followed by outstanding performances by junior Emily Brunemann and sophomore Emily Hanson in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Both Brunemann and Hanson earned NCAA consideration times.
Achieving an NCAA consideration time is the first step toward qualifying for the NCAA championships in March.
“Emily Brunemann’s mile was a really solid performance,” Michigan assistant coach Stefanie Kerska said. “She was under the ‘A’ cut again which, (doing) in the first two meets of the season . you’re really showing how dominant you are in that event.”
Brunemann gave Michigan back-to-back solid performances contributing a second-place finish to Michigan’s sweep of the 200-yard freestyle.
“I was really pleased with my mile and then jumping up in the next heat and swimming the 200 free,” Brunemann said. “That was really hard and so I was really happy with how I did on that.”
Senior Justine Mueller won three events including her first NCAA consideration time of the season in the 200-yard breaststroke.
The Wolverines brought their winning ways to the diving board with senior Elyse Lee notching victories in both diving events.
In an early-season, nonconference meet, Michigan demonstrated its ability to deliver solid performances in every arena.
“We carried through a really tough week of training,” Kerska said. “We increased both dry land and water workouts this week so the amount that we did and the quality that we did really reached a new level.”
Michigan will head to Bloomington next Friday and Saturday for a tri-meet with Texas and 2007 Big Ten Champions Indiana.