6 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, March 28, 1994
Borges brings talent and will to Blue
By BRETT JOHNSON
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
MINNEAPOLIS - Every swim
team must have a leader in the water.
A person who goes out to win every
time he races.
For Stanford this weekend, that
swimmer was Brian Retterer.
For Texas, it was Gary Hall in the
400-yard freestyle relay.
And forMichigan, Gustavo Borges
fit the bill. The junior from Brazil is
the heart and soul of the Wolverines
and is one of the main reasons Michi-
gan finished in the top three at the
NCAA Championships again this sea-
son.
"Every once in awhile you run
across somebody who is not only a
great talent, but they got that knack of
knowing what's right and what's go-
ing on around them," Texas coach
Eddie Reese said. "They can go all
out in the turbulent situations. Gary
Hall has that knack and Gustavo has
it."
This weekend, Gustavo led all
swimmers in individual points with
57. He won both the 100- and 200-
yard freestyles in Michigan record
times of 42.46 and 1:34.31, respec-
tively. In addition, he finished just .05
seconds behind Retterer in the 50
freestyle to claim second place. Indi-
vidually, it was his best NCAA meet
ever.
"He does so much for the team and
to see him get a little individual satis-
faction from it is great," sophomore
backstroker Royce Sharp said.
As Sharp indicated, Borges con-
tributes much more than just indi-
vidual points to the Wolverines. His
ability to go after people in a relay is
remarkable. And it is this ability that
makes him an invaluable member of
Michigan's team.
"He is the most powerful swim-
mer I have ever known," Michigan
coach Jon Urbanchek said.
For instance, Gustavo's anchor leg
in the national champion 800 freestyle
relay was a sight to behold. After a
strong leg by senior Rodney
VanTassell, Stanford held about a
body's length lead on the Wolver-
ines. Not to worry, Borges closed the
gap by the end of the first fifty and
went on to beat the Cardinal relay by
one second, setting a new team record
of 6:21.99 in the process.
Urbanchek had no doubt Gustavo
would bring home the victory and
neither did his fellow relay members.
"I had a pretty good idea, judging
from (Gustavo's individual) 200
freestyle, he would pull it off,"
VanTassell said.
However, Borges' relay prowess
extended far beyond the 800 freestyle
relay. During Friday morning's pre-
liminaries of the 200 medley relay,
Borges anchored another Michigan
record relay (1:28.67) by swimming
an 18.97 during the final 50 yards.
When he did not swim in the final, the
relay finished a second and a half
slower. Borges set his fifth record of
the meet when he anchored the 400
free relay to a time of 2:55.73.
Gustavo's relay ability is not lost
on his teammates. They know how
crucial he is to the success of the
team.
"He always gets us going," Sharp
said. "When you think of Gus, you
think of our relays. We're kind of
slow on the starts, and he's always
finishing them (fast)."
What Borges brings is more than
pure talent- it is a will to win. He is
the one guy that can always be counted
on.
"Sometimes when you have a great
athlete, you take for granted what he
can do," freshman Tom Dolan said.
"Everyone just appreciates what we
have in Gustavo. You can't say as much
as you want. He swam a great meet."
0
CHRIS WOLF/Daily
Junior Gustavo Borges swam his way to five Michigan records at this weekend's NCAAs.
Co-captains contribute i n many ways
By CHARLIE BREITROSE
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
MINNEAPOLIS - The Michi-
gan co-captains Rodney VanTassell
and Brice Kopas contributed 22 and
17 points, respectively, towards the
Michigan men's swimming and div-
ing team's third place total of 370.
But these two Wolverines may have
contributed more out of the pool than
in it.
"Neither one of them were super-
stars," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek
said. "But they paid their dues to
Michigan for four years."
Each of these two seniors pos-
sesses the leadership qualities neces-
sary to be a team captain. However,
they both have their own way of help-
ing the team - VanTassell in the
water and Kopas on deck.
Freshman Tom Dolan said Kopas
and VanTassell have helped him, and
the team as a whole, achieve success
throughout the 1993-94 season.
"Rodney and Brice work well to-
gether," Dolan said. "It really has
helped us through this year. Its been a
long, tough year, and there's no way
we could have 'done what we did
without Brice and Rodney."
In the final meet of his collegiate
career, Kopas finished in the top eight
(seventh in the 400 individual med-
ley) in the NCAA Championships for
the first time, thereby gaining All-
American status.
The feeling of success was twice
as sweet for Kopas. Last November,
he had to overcome a bout with mono-
nucleosis that kept him out of the
water for four weeks and sent him
home to Phoenix to recover.
"I'm excited that I did so well,"
Kopas said. "I didn't really imagine
myself doing this well, especially af-
ter mono."
His teammates enjoy Kopas' sense
of humor and style outside the pool.
"He's always relaxed," Dolan said.
"He always has a good attitude. (He
helps out the team) just by lightening
the mood when things get too stress-
ful."
VanTassell also has a good atti-
tude. The senior from Fairfax, Va.,
has a great work ethic and leads by
example.
"(Rodney) leads in the water," Dolan
said, "He works real hard in practice. In
that way he leads in a big way."
In the 800 freestyle relay,
VanTassell's competitive spirit shined
through. Swimming the third leg of
the relay, he found himself up against
Stanford's Joe Hudepohl, the second
place finisher in the 200 freestyle.
"I thought Rodney did a super
job," Urbanchek said. "He was able
to stay close (to Hudepohl), within
striking distance for Gus (Gustavo
Borges) to move ahead."
VanTassell's effort helped Michi-
gan defend its 800 free relay title.
Being chosen as captain was a
great honor for the two Wolverines,
Kopas said. But there was a lot of
added stress.
"Jon expected twice as much out
of us." Kopas said. "Both in the pool
and out. I think that was the toughest
part. That added pressure on the out-
side was immense."
Despite the pressure he put on his
co-captains, Urbanchek gave
VanTassell and Kopas a lot of credit.
"Your swimming abilities will al-
ways be replaced," Urbanchek said.
"What often remains is the leadership
qualities which you've provided
throughout the years.
"(Brice and Rodney) are going to
be greatly missed."
SWIMMING
Continued from page 1
coming into the meet, and the victory
gave him his third straight 100
freestyle NCAA title.
"It felt pretty good (to three-peat),"
Borges said. "Besides that, I had my
eye on the school record that Brent
Lang set four years ago (1990). I've
been trying to break it for two years.
So, that's a special taste for me."
Borges' efforts in his individual
events, which also included a second-
place finish in the 50 freestyle, left him
as the meet's high scorer with 57 points.
Along with Borges in the relays,
Royce Sharp, Scott Dill and Tom Hay
set the 200 medley record of 1:28.87;
Tom Dolan, Chris Rumley and Rodney
VanTassell set the 800 freestyle record
of 6:21.99; and VanTassell, Rumley
and Courtney Faller set the 400 freestyle
record of 2:55.73.
The three other school records
were set by Dolan in the 500 and 1650
freestyles and the 400 individual med-
ley. Unfortunately, all the freshman
got to show for his efforts were two
seconds and a third (50 points).
However, this was due to the out-
standing swimming that occurred at
the 1994 NCAAs. Six American, U.S.
Open and NCAA records were bro-
ken during the three-day event. Dolan
fell prey to an American record in all
three of his events.
Dolan's biggest nemesis was
Arizona's Chad Carvin. Carvin, who
was named swimmer of the meet, set
the American record in both the 500
(4:11.59) and 1650 (14:34.91)
freestyles. He became the first Ameri-
can since Mike O'Brien in 1985 to
win both NCAA titles
"I heard the crowd a little bit the
whole time," Carvin said. "But I re-
ally started hearing them about the
1200. It was so loud and deafening. I
was just thinking to myself, 'Don't
swim this thing and miss by a hun-
dredth.' So, I just tried to bear down
even harder."
In the 400 IM, Florida's Greg Bur-
gess broke his own American record
by swimming a 3:40.64. The swim
was .90 faster than his record time set
at last year's NCAA Championships.
"I'm really happy with the way I
swam," Burgess said. "I like to go out
hard. It makes the last 100 really
painful, but that's what I need to do in
order to win. I thought Dolan would
be with me in the last 200."
Stanford swimmers set records in
two events. During the first leg of the
400 medley relay, backstroker Brian
Retterer set a new 100 back record
with a time of 45.74.
Stanford's 200 freestyle relay of
Bill Schell, Retterer, Tyler Mayfield
and Joe Hudepohl broke a two-year-
old relay record (also set by Stanford)
with a time of 1:16.93. Retterer also
keyed that victory. In addition to his
relay swims, Retterer beat Borges in
the 50 freestyle and won the 100 back-
stroke.
"I knew my 100 back would be
good," Retterer said. "I knew I was
the man in that event. The 50 free was
a surprise."
The final record was set in the
final event by the Texas 400 freestyle
relay. Texas freshman Gary Hall
swam down Stanford senior Derek
Weatherford in the final 100 yards to
clinch the victory.
In addition to the Michigan record
performances, the team had some
other strong swims. In fact, every
Wolverine at the meet scored in some
fashion. Sharp came the closest to
adding another individual title to the
Michigan total.In the 200 backstroke,
the sophomore finished second to
Weatherford. He led until the final 10
yards or so and wound up falling .27
seconds short of victory.
"For the season I had, it was pretty
good," Sharp said. "For the kind of
meet I had, I'm glad I didn't roll over
and cop out. I got third last year,
second this year. First has to come
next year."
Sharp also placed 14th in the 100
back. Sophomore Marcel Wouda
placed top eight in the 500 (eighth)
and 1650 (eighth) freestyles as well
as the 400 IM (fourth).
In addition to Dolan, the other two
freshmen, John Piersma and Rumley,
both made championship finals.
Rumley placed seventh in the 200
free. In the 500 freestyle, Piersma
placed third and Rumley placed fifth
giving the Wolverines a two, three,
five, eight finish in the event.
"I'm glad we had three freshmen
in there," Michigan coach Jon
Urbanchek said. "It's a good experi-
ence to go through the stress. It looks
pretty good for Michigan (for the fu-
ture)."
Five other Wolverines scored in
individual events. Co-captain
VanTassell placed 13th in the 200
free and 16th in the 500 free. Senior
co-captain Brice Kopas made his first
championship final in the400IM and@
finished seventh. He also placed 12th
in the 1650 free. Senior diver Eric
Lesser scored on both the three-meter
(13th) and 10-meter (14th).
Juniors Tom Blake and Steve West
also scored with an 11th in the 1650
free and a 15th in the 200 breast-
stroke, respectively.
Event
200 Free relay
500 Free
200 IM
50 Free
1-meter diving
400 Med. relay
200 Med. relay
100 Butterfly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
3-meter diving
800 Free relay
1650 Freestyle
200 Back
100 Freestyle
200 Breast
200 Butterfly
10-meter diving
400 Free relay
Winner
Stanford
Chad Carvin
Greg Burgess
Brian Retterer
Chemi Gil
Stanford
Stanford
Rafal Szukala
Gustavo Borges
Tyler Mayfield
Brian Retterer
Evan Stewart
Michigan
Chad Carvin
D. Weatherford
Gustavo Borges
Kurt Grote
Ugar Taner
Brian Earley
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MICHELLE GUY/Daily
Freshman Tom Dolan placed second in two events and third in one event at
the NCAA Championships this past weekend.
Best of Ann Arbor Ballot '94
Please return by April 1 to the Daily at 420 Maynard, 48109. Results will be printed in the April 14 Best of Ann Arbor issue of Weekend. Thanks for your time.
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The Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives
is now accepting applications for a male
RESIDENT COUNSELOR
position for the Wade H. McCree, Jr.
Incentive Scholarship Summer Initiative.
App t d dn March 31, 1994.1
Resident Counselor is responsible for supervising
student leaders and assisting with the coordination and
implementation of a twelve day summer program for high
school students from the Detroit Metropolitan area.
Applicants must have demonstrated leadership skills and a
01
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