Women's Swimming vs. Iowa Tomorrow, 7 p.m. Matt Mann Pool ,he Michigan Daily SPORTS Thursday, November 21, 1985 Women's Basketball vs. Holy Cross Monday,,7:30 p.m. Crisler Arena Page7 Freshman Fensen doing swimmingly for Tankers By LISA CHERNEV When Becky Fensen joined the wim team at the Lakeside Field Club sIn North Salem, N.Y., at age 11, she Zidn't have aspirations of becoming Die next Tracy Caulkins. She joined Decause a friend did. "When I joined I had no interest in the sport, I knew nothing about it," said Fensen, a freshman out of Xatonah, N.Y. "We practiced three pays a week, for maybe half an hour, iwas nothing." STHAT NOTHING turned into something really big for Michigan. Although she hasn't been a Wolverine very long, the adjustment has been an easy one for the 18 year old freestyle sprinter. "I've adapted easily," said Pensen. "I'm fitting in well." But it was at Lakeside where Fen- en's natural abilities came to the re. Like a fish in water, you might Say. "I loved it right away," said the S Wolverine freestyle sprinter. Fensen didn't begin her competitive swimming career, however, until the ripe old age of 15. For swimming that's over the hill. IT WAS then that she joined the .ilton Wahoos, a nationally com- petitive AAU team at the Wilton, Conn., YMCA. "I started way behind the other girls. Some of them had already won Junior National championships," said SFensen. But Fensen wasted no time catching up. _IN 1983 and 1984, she helped Wilton din the YMCA National Champion- ships in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Fen- sen and crew set a YMCA record in Fhe 400-yard freestyle relay. "I never Nound out the (winning) time, it didn't natter," said Fensen whose best time 4s 53.8 seconds in the 100-yard Freestyle relay. First year head coach out of Iowa, Tim Richardson attributes Fensen's ;access, partly, to her late start. 'Swimmers who start later have Fnore enthusiasm for the sport and are 3ess aware of how good they are," he laid. "It's a double edged sword, :ecause they also have less experien- !Gridde picks O.K., all you suave young sports prognosticators, here is the SINGLE _MOST IMPORTANT STATISTIC CONCERNING THE MICHIGAN- OHIO STATE MATCHUP (fanfare, ;:please, or at least give a few ;Hail"s): NO OHIO STATE STUDENT OR FACULTY MEMBER HAS EVER WON GRIDDES! (As far as we know. If you find one who has, tell us quick ,b we can make fun of him in )Jomorrow's paper.) This simple little stat is all you need to know to make a bundle. If wild old Woody Hayes couldn't win Griddes -(and lord knows he tried, punching people out and working himself into the hospital trying to win that Pizza Express pizza and Dooley's guest pass) then what are the chances of OSU beating Michigan, which is un- defeated in Griddes competition? Zilcho. Percentages of your take will be accepted starting Monday. "THE WEEK" 1. Our THE GAME Ohio State at MICHIGAN (Pick total points) 2. The oldest THE GAME Lafayette at Lehigh 3. First called THE GAME Cal at Stanford 4. Big Eight's THE GAME Nebraska at Oklahoma 5. Los Angeles's THE GAME UCLA at USC 6. Ivy League's THE GAME Harvard at Yale 7. Illinois's THE GAME Illinois at Northwestern S; Indiana's THE GAME Purdue at Indiana 9. Pennsylvania's THE GAME Penn State at Pitt 10. Washington's THE GAME . Washington State at Washington 1X. Arizona's THE GAME Arizona at Arizona State 12. Oregon's THE GAME Oregon State at Oregon I3. South Carolina's THE GAME Clemson at South Carolina 14. North Carolina's THE GAME Duke at North Carolina Don't be misled by Fensen's lack of years, however. Wilton is a nationally-oriented team. "She (Fen-' sen) was able to gain a lot of ex- perience in a short time," said Richardson. TEAMMATE Margret Huson, a freshman backstroker, who started swimming at age five, also said Fen- sen has an advantage in starting late. "Sometimes it's better, because otherwise you get into too much of a grind." Fensen hasn't reached that grind yet. Although it may be a possibility for the future, it doesn't seem a probability. "Becky's greatest asset is her com- petitiveness," said Richardson. "She loves to race in work outs. She loves to race in swim meets. It's fun for her. Some kids are too sophisticated to have fun. Her attitude is contagious." HUSON SEEMS to have caught Fensen's positive attitude. "We're small, so we all have to push each other," said Fensen. "We don't have anyone pulling us through and we don't have anyone pulling us down." In the Wolverines' meet against Waterloo and Etobicoke, Fensen helped pull the team in three races. She won two individual heats, the 50- yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, with times of :25.39 and :53.99 respectively. With teammates, she won the 200-yard medley relay, in 1:52.6. Fensen's first tough competition will come this Friday when the Wolverines begin their Big Ten schedule, squaring off against Iowa. "This will be a learning year for Becky," said Richardson. Maybe she'll even teach a few swimmers a thing or two. Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON Freshman swimmer Becky Fensen has starred for Michigan despite being in only her fourth year of com- petitive swimming. With three first place finishes behind her, Fensen will lead the Wolverines against Iowa Friday. i t. -S r! M. opVe)e V vi v NV v .V 7/e4 ~ 4coi4e '4.M Yy... I Signigicant Student Discounts on All In-Office Services with Student I.D. HEWITT RD. CLINIC 2236 Packard Rd. (at Hewitt) Ypsilanti "Your Doctor Away 434-1500 THE #5 PACKARD from Home." AATA BUS STOPS AT OUR DOOR 1 Don't be a turkey' Take a dozen of Mrs. Peabody's cookies to Mom's for Thanksgiving 1 $1 off dozen 1 Holiday Orders Coupon must be presented I 1 761-CHIP Offer valid through 11-28-85 1 V V Y V*,V Y V V Y V'.* lit 1 _1} tir .Jyy'Lk } g r j . c N y Yri S De :ar Mom and Dad, Urgent. To further my tele illek nt e iT Ld it necessary for you to in rease my mon1lb y: Y This is no frivile frivolous request. 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