Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - December 3, 1990

, en ChaI o

1990-91

MICHIGAN
PREVIEW

SWIMMING AND

DIVING

FIVE CONSECUTIVE MEN'S SWIMMING TITLES LEAD TO...
Coach's goal: The Joy of Six

by Ken Sugiura
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's swimming
team, saddled with the loss of four-
time NCAA champion Brent Lang,
may have to go through a rebuilding
year this season.
"It's not going to be as easy as in
the past," coach Jon Urbanchek said
of his team's chances of defending
its five consecutive Big Ten titles.
So what can be expected from the
1990-91 team? A fall from grace
perhaps? Well, not quite.
For starters, the Wolverines, rid-
ing the crest of four straight top-six
finishes in the NCAA champi-
onships, are ranked fourth in the
country.
Yet the cries for revolt from the
Big Ten underlings are growing
louder. No. 10 Iowa, led by 1989-90
Big Ten Swimmer-of-the-Year Artur
Wojdat, has taken on the motto
"Mission Michigan," revealing its
plans to upend the Wolverines. No.
17 Michigan State and No. 21
Minnesota are also preparing for a
chance at Urbanchek's squad.
Regardless, acting captain Scott
Van Appledorn feels the team isn't
quite ready to abdicate the throne.

"It's going to be tough, espe-
cially without Brent Lang to anchor
our relays, but I still like our
chances," Van Appledorn said.
And what's not to like with
Urbanchek's bevy of world class
swimmers, including world-record
holder Mike Barrowman and top-
ranked individual medleyist Eric
Namesnik. Filling out the quintet
are breaststroker Eric Wunderlich,
backstroker Steve Bigelow, and but-
terflyer and free-styler Brian Gunn.
All of them are ranked among the
top 11 in the world in their respec-
tive events.
However, five swimmers do not
make a championship team, and the
Wolverines need contributions from
many to achieve their goal of a top-
five finish at the NCAA Champion-
ships in Austin, Texas.
"The goal of this year's team is
to close the gap between the top five
and the rest of the team," Urbanchek
said.
Urbanchek, U.S. Swimming's
Coach-of-the-Year, will count on
freestylers Eric Bailey, Jarret Winter,
and Noel Strauss to play significant
roles. In addition, the Maize and

Blue welcome a talent-laden rookie
class which is expected to make an
impact as the season goes along.
Sprinter Rodney Van Tassell has
already made his presence felt with a
superlative performance against Wis-
consin, and his achievements thus
far offer only a glimpse of things to
come.
"They're (the first-year swim-
mers) all about equal and they can all
make that next step," assistant coach
Mark Noetzel said. "In fact, if just a
few of them make the step, then this
year's team is going to be better
than last year's."
Diving coach Dick Kimball will
also face a bit of rebuilding himself.
Kimball lost Bill Hayes and Mike
Bayerl to graduation. Redshirt frosh
Eric Lesser and third-year sophomore
Jeff Jozwiak will have high expecta-
tions placed on them - especially
since Michigan's top diver, senior
Steve Hamerski, is recovering from
shoulder surgery, and won't return
until January.
Lesser has confidence that under
the tutelage of Kimball, whom he
describes as "the best diving coach in
the world," the Wolverines will con-

tinue to rule the college (diving)
boards.
"As far as predictions go, I'd say
the diving team is going to be hard
to beat this year for Michigan," he
said.
If rebuilding does not hurt the
Wolverines, the schedule may. Last
season, Michigan had the luxury of
hosting seven meets, including the
Big Ten Championships.
This season, the itinerary in-
cludes only one dual meet at
Canham Natatorium while listing
visits to No. 3 Stanford, No. 9 Cal-
Berkeley, No. 17 Michigan State,
No. 27 Ohio State, and a triangular
meet at No. 25 Indiana which in-
cludes defending national champion
Texas.
A rigorous schedule such as this
will not make for an easy season,
nor will the fact that "every team in
the conference is coming after
Michigan right now," Urbanchek
said.
Noetzel said of his team: "It'll
take best swims from everybody to
make it happen, but best swims are
generally par for the course."

Senior swimmer Scott Van Appledorn will act as captain for the
Wolverines while fellow swimmer Mike Barrowman prepares for the
World Championships this winter.
Van Appledorn
breaks from pack
by Adam Miller
Daily Sports Writer

0
0


Urbanchek and Kimball
breed Wolverine success


1990-91

The University of Michigan's
Men's Swimming and Diving Schedule

by Andy De Korte
Daily Sports Writer
How to build ... One might ex-
pect Bob Vila to write a book on
building houses, but building a team
that can compete for the national
championship year after year is
nearly impossible.
However, by winning five con-
tecutive Big Ten Conference cham-
pionships, and placing in the top six
at the NCAA meets in those same
years, Michigan's head swimming
coach, Jon Urbanchek, and diving
coach, Dick Kimball, have done just
that.
Under Urbanchek's reign,
Michigan's men's swimming team
has returned to the plateau of na-
tional prominence that rivals the
level of success enjoyed earlier in the
century under such Michigan coach-

Date

Oononent

wKr v w s"

his own swimmers (Mike Barrow-
man, Brent Lang, Eric Namesnik,
and Eric Wunderlich) to the World
Championships in Perth, Australia.
As spectacular as Urbanchek's in-
ternational flavor is, it is paralleled
by one of his own colleagues, Dick
Kimball.
Kimball coached in the Pan
American games in 1983, the
Olympics in 1984, and again in
1988. He also lead the 1985 U.S.
squad at the World Student Games in
Kobe, Japan.
Kimball swam for Michigan
from 1957 to 1959, also under the
illustrious Gus Stager. During that
time, he showed tremendous talent
by winning two NCAA diving
championships.
Kimball began coaching soon af-
ter his collegiate career. Thirty-one
years ago, he took over as Michi-
gan's diving coach. Incidentally,
Urbanchek was on the swim team
when Kimball began coaching.
Kimball's 31 years of service make
him the dean of Michigan coaches.
Kimball,'s program has produced
three Olympic gold medalists: Phil
Boggs (1976 springboard), Micki
King (1972 springboard), and Bob
Webster (1960 and 1964 platform).
He also amassed several acco-
lades. In 1974, he received the Fred
Cady Memorial Award for "sincere
dedication in achieving the ultimate

November 9
November 9 - December 2
November 9 - December 2
December 7 - 9
December 30
January 4-6
January 18
January 19
January 28-9
February 1
February 9
February 16
February 28 - March 2
March 1-2
Marchh 8-9
March 16-17
March 28-30
April 3-6
April 17-21
* at Indianapolis, Indiana
** at Columbus, Ohio
*** at Austin, Texas
**** at Seattle, Washington
***** at Minneapolis, Minnesota
HOME MEETS IN CAPS

WISCONSIN (Coed)
U.S. Open (National Team)*
EMU Invitational
MICHIGAN INVITATIONAL (Coed)
at University of Hawaii
Hawaii Invitational
at Stanford
at California-Berkeley
SMU Invitational
at Michigan State
Indiana, Texas (at Indiana)
at Ohio State
Big Ten Championships*
MICHIGAN OPEN (Coed)
Diving Zone Meet **
MICHIGAN SENIOR MEET (Coed)
NCAA Championships***
U.S. National Championships****
U.S. Diving Championships*****

a

Sometimes the cliches are true.
Take Scott Van Appledorn, a senior
freestyler on the men's swimming
team. Like the rest of the team, he
works hard. Like the rest of the
seniors, he's paid his dues.
However, what sets Van
Appledorn apart is that he's the team
captain while world-record holder
Mike Barrowman trains for the world
championships.
How did this self-proclaimed
"middle of the pack" swimmer from
Ann Arbor rise to his current
leadership position? The climb was
not an easy one. Van Appledorn
joined the team his first year at
Michigan. However, he faced
difficulties that made him want to
quit after that season.
"My first year, I was lost," Van
Appledorn said. "We had a huge
team and we were stuck in this tiny
little pool ... I couldn't take it. If
things weren't going to change, I
never would have made it four
years."
Canham Natatorium, which was
completed that summer, helped keep
Van Appledorn on the team.
"We got moved to a new pool,
and I kind of found a space for
myself on the team," Van Appledorn
said.
A complete attitude adjustment
came with the move. During his
sophomore year, Van Appledorn
started to show the enthusiasm and
drive that eventually got him elected
acting captain.
"I said, 'Well, I may not be the
most talented guy around here, but
I'm going to put in 100 percent
effort and make something out of
this career,"' he said.
At the end of last season, the
team named Barrowman captain of
this year's squad. The world record
holder and defending NCAA champ-
ion in the 200-meter breaststroke,
Barrowman has also been named
national Swimmer-of-the-Year the
last two years. It was a natural
choice for the team to make, but
Barrowman is still at home training
for the world championships in
January.
"We needed someone around to be
a leader and show the freshmen how
things are done at Michigan," Van
Appledorn said. "(Coach) John
(Urbanchek) decided I was the one."
"He went literally from the

Urbanchek said. "Nothing was given
to him. He had to earn it."
Van Appledorn sees his greatest
responsibility as an example-setter.
"As a senior swimmer, you can
always take shortcuts because you've
been around and you know the
system," Van Appledorn said. "But
as a captain, you can't do that. YoulJ
have to set a good example for the
freshmen, lead sets in practice, lead
routines and so on. Another really
significant part of that is motivating
the team at meets and getting
everyone fired up. That's a pretty
serious job."
Van Appledorn is not the only
Wolverine enjoying his leadership
role.
"I think he adds a lighter
atmosphere to the team," sophomore
butterflyer Brian Gunn said. "He's
real relaxed and he's a laid back kind
of guy. Workouts are not as tense."
Urbanchek concurred: "He's a
happy-go-lucky guy. He's a guy
who always smiles, no matter what
we do."
Aside from the formality of
relinquishing his title, Van@
Appledorn doesn't see his role
changing very much at the end of the
semester.
"I can help the team in different
ways (than Barrowman does). To the
other guys, I'm probably more
approachable than Mike. I mean he's
the world record holder and
Swimmer-of-the-Year the past two
years.
"I'm just this blue-collar guy
who befriends everyone on the team.
I think that's pretty significant.
People can come to me with their
problems. If they need a ride to the
airport, or something, I'm the guy
they can come to."
Lest you think that leading the
Michigan men's swimming team is
so great a job that it requires
absolute, intense, one-sided dedica-@
tion, consider these comments from
coach Urbanchek. "Swimming is not
the most important thing to him.
Swimming is a pretty good outlet
for him. Swimming is important,
but not the most important (part) of
his life. He's got academics, a well
rounded social life, and (swimming)
fits in real well."
He sets a good example. He
works hard ... Yeah, it's cliched, but
when you're describing Scott Van

The University of Michigan's
Men's Swimming and Diving Roster

Urbanchek
ing greats as Matt
Stager.

1990-91
Name


Mann and Gus

Year

Events


Urbanchek was no stranger to the
Michigan's strong swimming tradi-
tion when he returned to Ann Arbor
to coach in 1982. He swam for
Michigan from 1958 to 1962, and
was coached by the legendary
Augustus Stager during that time.
Urbanchek's return journey to
Ann Arbor ran through Southern
California. For fifteen years (1963-
77), he coached swimming and water
polo at Anaheim High School in
Anaheim, Calif. Following
Anaheim, Urbanchek became the
swimming coach at Long Beach
State University for five years. He
earned Pacific Coach Athletic
Association Coach of the year hon-
ors there in 1981.
.Urbanchek's exploits extend well
beyond California. He coached the
United States in a dual meet against

baiey, tnc
Barrowman, Mike
Bigelow,Steve
Bower, Tim
Downey, Ryan
Duttenhofer, Steve
Field, Jayson
Glass, Kevin
Gooch, Greg
Gunn, Brian
Hamerski, Steve
Harris, Bill
Hay, Tom
Hume, Jim
Jaffe, Matt
Jozwiak, Jeff
Kiani-Aslani, John
Klotz, Jeffrey
Kopas, Brice
Lambert, Brad
Lesser, Eric
Milobinski, Marc
Mitvalsky, Rich
Namesnik, Eric
Sanchez, Abel
Silverman, Rob
Skoglund,. Scott
Stabile, Andy
Strauss, Noel
Tschannen, Kent
kun dnn - irn - t

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Lutterly/-reestyle
Breastroke/IM
Backstroke/Freestyle
Freestyle
Diving
Freestyle/IM
Butterky
Backstroke
Backstroke
Butterfly/Freestyle
Diving
Freestyle
Butterfly
Butterfly/IM/Freestyle
Freestyle
Diving
Diving
Freestyle
Freestyle/I M
Diving
Diving
Freestyle
Freestyle
Distance Free/IM
Diving
Diving
Freestyle
Butterfly
Freestyle
Butterfly/I M

Kimball
in coaching the sport of diving." He
was awarded the National Collegiate
and Scholastic Swimming Trophy
(the only diving coach to win the
trophy). Kimball also belongs to the
Michigan Hall of Fame and is a
threipAme Ripa Ten (mot recentlv in