Page 8C-Thursday, September 6, 1979-The Michigan Daily
New swim coach inherits wealth
o talent, sees title in future
By MARK MIHANOVIC
Most new coaches aren't as lucky as
Bill Farley. A goodly number of them
inherit teams which sport a minimal
amount of talent.
But Farley, who is Michigan's new
men's swimming coach, takes over a
team which last year compiled a 12-1
dual meet record and finished second in
the Big Ten championships.
"MY OUTLOOK js good because I
know that there's a "really fine team sit-
ting here already," said Farley, who
took the coaching reins when Gus
Stager retired after his 25th season.
"There's a good chance in the next
few years for us to overtake Indiana.
But I don't expect us to win the (Big
Ten) title next year. You're talking
about 19 years of domination. I don't
think a new coach can come in and
overshadow 19 years of domination
right away. We can give them a run, but
we have to have an outstanding
recruiting year to even think about it."
For one evening last January, the
Wolverines did entertain thoughts of
hurdling Indiana into Big Ten swim-
ming supremacy. With a packed house
at Matt Mann Pool cheering incessan-
tly, the Blue tankers shook up the
Hoosiers and their veteran coach
"Doc" Counsilman, with a come-from-
behind 58-55 victory. It was Michigan's
first dual meet victory over Indiana in
18 years.
UNFORTUNATELY for the veteran
Stager and his tankers, the dual meet
was far less important than last Mar-
ch's Big Ten Championships. Indiana
outdistanced the Wolverines in that
contest, thus sending its entire team to
the NCAA's.
Despite their second-place conferen-
ce meet finish, Michigan managed to
qualify several tankers for the national
finals. And happily enough, only diving
standout Matt Chelich (graduated) will
be missing from this year's squad.
Chelich won the conference cham-
pionships in both the one- and three-
meter dives, and his presence assured
Michigan of first-place points from both
diving events in dual meets.
"CHELICH IS going to be tough to
replace in a lot of other areas, as well,"
Farley commented. "He's going to be
tough to replace as a leader."
Michigan has recruited two heirs to
Chelich's throne, however, in Kevin
Machemer and Ron Merriott. A tran-
sfer from Michigan State, Merriot
placed second in the Big Ten meet in
1978 before being forced to sit out last
year's meet.
Merriott, who will be ineligible to
compete for the Wolverines until
January, is a former world trampoline
champion and finished in the top 16 in
the AAU National Diving Champion-
ships.
DIVING COACH Dick Kimball is op-
timistic about Merriott's future in
diving. "He's got a lot of class. He's had
competition all over the world because
of his trampoline performing," he said.
Ken Vigiletti and Kerry Menegay,
both of whom qualified for the NCAA's
last year, are also returning to bolster a
fine group of divers.
THE SWIMMING corps is in even
better shape, with everyone returning.
The sprinters are led by standouts Fer-
nando Canales, who won (and set
records in) five events at the Big Ten
meet, and Bob Murray, a national
qualifier in the 50-yard freestyle.
Sophomore John Spaid and junior Tom
Pederson are also nationally-qualifying
freestylers.
Last year as freshmen, both Tom Er-
nsting and Scott Crowder qualified for
nationals, Ernsting in the breaststroke
and Crowder in the butterfly. Senior
Paul Griffith is "Mr. Versatile,"
swimming in freestyle and medley
relays that qualified for the NCAA's. He
also fills a void in the team by perfor-
ming well in the backstroke events.
Farley isn't certain how much his
coaching system will differ from
Stager's. "I really don't know how the
kids have trained," he explained. "I'm
anticipating a much different situation
(from Princeton where he previously
coached) because the kids here are
much better swimmers.
"I won't be able to know until we get
started. I'll come in with certain things
in mind, but I'm going to have to be
very flexible."
Considering the talent Farley is
working with, that shouldn't be a dif-
ficult chore.
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GRI DDE PICKS
Okay, trivia buffs, can you handle
these sparkling sports stumpers? Let's
see how you come out on three
questions.
Number One-When Rick Leach
signed a contract with the Detroit
Tigers in May, what was the REAL
reason behind his decision to play
professional baseball instead of foot-
ball?,
Number Two-Former Ohio State
football coach Woody Hayes punched
out an ABC-TV cameraman during the
fourth quarter of his team's 14-6 loss to
Michigan in 1977. EXACTLY what
motivated "Dr. Stranghayes" to carry
out this violent act?
If you think that Leach chose baseball
because he was more skilled in it than
football, and that Hayes punched out
ABC's Mike Freedman because he was
in the Buckeye coach's way, you're
wrong. Very wrong.
Here's what actually happened:
-Leach, after suffering through a
miserable season of forecasting the
winners in the Daily's weekly Gridde
Picks, stated that, "I no longer have
any interest in pumping the pigskin. If I
can't master Griddes, I certainly can't
figure on outwitting those mighty NFL
defenses."
-Little did any of the 106,024 fans
know that Hayes was headed for the
worst single-day showing in Gridde
history-1 win in 20 games. When ABC
photographer Freedman informed the
Buckeye coach of that disheartening
fact, Hayes went into his well-
publicized rampage.
Now, do you want to be degraded and
demoralized by your sports-minded
cronies, simply because you fail to ven-
ture into the somewhat risque niche of
prognostication affectionately called
Gridde Picks? Or is your coat of mental
armor thick enough to withstand the
potential pain of collegiate grid predic-
tions?
To assert your man (or woman)hood,
simply drop your picks off at our offices
on 420 Maynard by midnight each
Friday. The winner(s) will receive a
world-famous small one-item Pizza
Bob's pizza.
Don't be another Rick Leach-he
may have run the option to perfection,
but he never became a winner in the
t REAL GAME. You can.
Daily Photo
THE BIG QUESTION that must be answered during Michigan's 1979-80 swim
season is this: can Matt Chelich (above), the graduated diving sensation and Big
Ten champion on the one and three-meter boards, be replaced. New coach Bill
Farley (inset) thinks he has some heirs to Chelich's "throne" in freshman Kevin
Mackemer and transfer Ron Merriott.
Blue success story
keep
S
i 3
i-'
By GEOFF LARCOM
In the recently formed f
Michigan women's sports
there's an outrageously pi
youngster in the lot, one whi
showing its maturity four year
which hasn't stopped growing
Since coach Stu Isaac too'
1975, the Michigan women's s
team has indeed been a prodi
ts. They've won four straigh
championships, while totally
the Michigan record book.
In fact, probably the only
last year for Isaac's squad ca
season-ending AIAW Nation
when the tankers finished a c
ting 13th, after cracking the t
year before.
"I WAS DEFINITELY dis
with the national meet," sa
on growing
"Our key people got a little discouraged
family of when they didn't place as high as they
teams, expected."
recocious Yet it will be those same "key'
ch began swimmers and divers who will return in
rs ago and droves this season making this year's
since. outlook considerably bright.
k over in The key graduate is freestyler Katy
wimming McCully. McCully placed in all short
gy of sor- ' freestyle events during the
t Big Ten nationals-the 50, 100 and 200, while
rewriting gaining All-America recognition in
each event.
sour note Attempting to make up for the loss of
ime in the McCully will be a squad led by divers
al meet, Barb Weinstein and Julie Bachman.
disappoin- Bachman was national champion at the
op ten the one and three meter heights two years
ago, while Weinstein placed second in
appointed the one meter and fourth in the three
lid Isaac. meter dive last year.
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MONIKA SCHEFF (left) and Linda Kendall hurtle off the blocks at Matt Mann
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