The buck stops here.
“This is why we train six months out of the year,” assistant men”s swimming coach Eric Namesnik said.
This weekend, eight swimmers and one diver from the No. 9 Michigan men”s swimming and diving team will travel to College Station, Texas for the NCAA Tournament. After claiming the runner-up position behind No. 8 Minnesota a month ago at the Big Ten Championship, the Wolverines have set a realistic goal they want a top-10 national finish.
According to Michigan”s coaches, the title will most likely go to either No.1 Texas or No.2 Stanford both of which the Wolverines have met, and lost to, this season.
“It should be a good dual meet between Texas and Stanford for the top spot, with the rest of us fighting underneath them,” Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. “We will meet Minnesota again, and, based on what they showed at Big Tens, they should definitely be in the top four or five.”
Michigan”s goal could very well be accomplished with 12 races and one relay posing top-20 seeds along with diver Jason Coben adding points.
“If they gave out medals based on seedings, we would have a couple and walk away happy,” Urbanchek said. “But the point of all of this is to show it in the pool.”
Hang on tight: Junior Tim Siciliano is the defending champion in the 400-yard individual medley. With a No.2 seed and a qualifying time that broke the Big Ten record, he is in a good position to take the crown again after a full recovery from his early-season shoulder injury.
Welcome freshman: Seeded first in the 200 freestyle because of his record-tying performance at the conference championships, Big Ten Freshman of the Year Dan Ketchum is on the road to stardom. In addition, he is seeded fifth in the 500 free and 15th in the 1,650 free.
Awesome foursome: Michigan”s 800-freestyle relay is a top contender for the crown with a three seed. The quartet of Jordan Watland, Ketchum, Chris Thompson and Garrett Mangieri took the conference title and wouldn”t mind a matching national plaque.
Due time: Thompson has an Olympic bronze medal but not an NCAA title he has placed second in the 1,650 freestyle for the past three years.
“I sure would get tired of second place after three years,” Urbanchek said.
An impressive finishing time is not nearly as significant to the senior as a win for his final race as a Wolverine.
Last hurrah: Senior captain Scott Werner will also represent Michigan for his last time, swimming in three individual races. As an All-American in the highly-competitive breaststroke, he is expected to place in the top eight in the 200. Points could also come from good times in the 100 breast and 200 individual medley.
Diving saves the day: A couple good scores for Coben would give Michigan the points needed for the finish it hopes for provided the freshman”s elbow is pain-free.
Other races for which the Wolverines qualified include the 200 backstroke, 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200-medley relay, 400-medley relay and 400-freestyle relay.
“All of our guys are seasoned swimmers with experience competing at a very high level,” Namesnik said. “Now it”s just a matter of taking care of business defending our positions.”