The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, January 9, 1995 - Wouda returns to Wolverine lineup MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily Royce Sharp and his Michigan teammates trounced South Carolina at Canham Natatorium Saturday, 114-81. Illue . ies by Su th Carolina Wolverine semiors shine in win over Gamecocks By MICHELLE LEE THOMPSON Daily Sports Writer Senior - n. One who is older, of igher rank, in one's last year of col- fege. , In other words, persons who will graduate soon. For the Michigan men's swim- ming and diving team, Saturday's vic- tory over South Carolina was for the seniors, lock, stock and barrel. It was the season's last home meet, and the last time most the seniors will swim in CanhamNatatorium. On the day termed "Senior Recog- ition Day" (somewhat of an under- statement), coach Jon Urbanchek gave the soon-to-be-graduates their time in tlhe limelight. And that limelight was a pright one, much brighter than the filial score of 114-81 showed. , Although Urbanchek swam his best swimmers early in the meet, he posted his big names as exhibition swimmers ,jajer in the meet, so as not to run up the core. Standouts including Tom Dolan, DeryaBuyukuncu and Owen von Rich- ter posted the fastest times in their events, but the Wolverines took no points for their efforts. "(The Gamecocks')coach isafriend of Alex (Braunfield)," Urbanchek ex- plained. Braunfield is the Wolverines' assistant coach. Although the meet was another non- *hallenge for the top-ranked Wolver- ines, the Michigan swimmers still made an effort, despite tiredness re- maining from their training trip to Ha- waii last week. "It was the seniors' last meet to swim at home," Dolan said. "They all swam well, considering being tired from training camp." But they weren't all that tired. Brazilian Gustavo Borges, possibly one of the best sprinters in the NCAA, anchored the winning senior 200 med- ley relay and won the 200 freestyle, but placed third with three fellow seniors in a 200 freestyle exhibition. "I think everybody was excited about the relays-everybody wanted to beat the seniors," Urbanchek said. "Gustavo is always pretty steady. You can always count on Gustavo.". But Borges was more sentimental than proud. "It's a special meet being my last meet," Borges said. "It's sad in a sort of a way. This is the last time I swim as a Michigan swimmer in (Canham Natatorium)." A walk-on four years ago, Thomas Blake took third in the 200 freestyle and second amongst the counted 200 butterflyers. "You just go out there and you've got to race and do your best no matter if it's for points or not," Blake said. The Gamecocks' Jay Telford, a sophomore All-American, placed sec- ond behind Wolverine Chris Rumley in the 1000 freestyle, and first in the 500 freestyle. Gamecock backstroker Charles Girdlestone placed second in the 200 IM behind Dolan and timed third and placed first officially in the 200 backstroke. South Carolinacoach Keith Switzer said that he scheduled the meet know- ing his team would likely not win. "We used it as sort of a learning process of what we want to be in 5 to 8 years," Switzer said. "We're a very young team and Michigan has a chance to win a national championship." Blake has a personal interest in the NCAA championship meet, held in his home town of Indianapolis. 'It's a special meet being my last meet... This is the last time I swim as a Michigan swimmer in (Canham Natatorium).' - Gustavo Borges Michigan senior "It's very exciting forme, not only winning (an NCAA championship) my senior season, but swimming in Indianapolis where I've swam so many other big meets," Blake said. Freshman Buyukuncu said he had learned a lot about workouts from the seniors and was sad it was their last meet. "They're not all great swimmers but they all want to do it and they all want to win the NCAA champion- ship," Buyukuncu said. By NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA Daily Sports Writer Marcel Wouda is back. The seven-timeAll-American, four- time Big Ten Champion and three- time NCAA Champion has rejoined the Wolverines' run for the national championship. The senior swimmer had returned to his native Uden, the Netherlands, for the fall semester in order to recuperate from the pressures of competition. "He just wasn't ready for school," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "He was mentally, emotionally and physically spent. He trained real hard for the World Championships that were swum in late September. He didn't have any time to relax. He didn't get any time off." But Wouda's fall retreat has given him that time off, and now he is regain- ing a competitive mindset. "It looks like he's gotten his break," Urbanchek said. "He's swimming well and he's swimming confidently. I think he's ready for a championship effort." Woulda feels he is ready as well. In fact, he is more ready than a year ago. "I'm really looking forward to NCAAs," Wouda said. "Compared to last year, I'm really excited. Last year, I wasn't really looking forward to it, but this year I am. I want to show what I can contribute to the team." Wouda wasn't always sure about his contributions, however. After a highly successful sophomore season, in which he won NCAA champion- ships in the 500 freestyle, 1650 free and 800 free relay, Wouda struggled in his juniorcampaign. A combination of high expecta- tions and new competition took its toll, and Wouda soon felt their weight on his shoulders. "He's had a lot of pressure on him because he didn't do as well as he would have like last year. He just had a lot of pressure on him last year, both academic and athletic," Urbanchek said of the two-time U-M Athletic Aca- demic Achievement award winner. "He had competition from the freshmen and Tom Dolan was dominating and that was tough. So he took a semester to cool off." During the fall, Wouda trained with his old club and national teams. The old atmosphere helped him to regain his focus after his "disappointing" perfor- mance in Rome, where he finished 9th in the 400 IM medley, 10th in the 200 IM, and 11th in the 400 free. "I was really disappointed with my performance in Rome," Wouda said. "I decided to take some time to get back on my feet, to get back my dedication for swimming. I'm ready to go back now." Urbanchek now hopes that Wouda will return to his championship form of Urbanchek, swimmers are NCAA's classiest act By MICHELLE LEE THOMPSON Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's swimming and diving team, poised to win its first NCAA championship since 1961, may well have been swimming its entire season wearing tuxedos. The Wolverines are a class act. Coach Jon Urbanchek, knowing full well that his squad could have blanked South Carolina Saturday, utilized the meet to let all his seniors swim on Senior Recognition Day. After opting not to count some of the events at all, Urbanchek decided midway through the meet to swim some of his stars as exhibition. They tallied no points, and the score was kept close. "We try to make it fun and exciting and challenging," Urbanchek said. 9 Urbanchek does that kind of stuff just to be nice. Besides, South Carolina coach Keith Switzer is a friend of Wolverine assistant coach Alex Braunfield. See, none of these meets really matter. Unlike major sports like hockey and basketball, the dual-meet season doesn't matter to the swim team's final standings. What matters are the NCAAs, held in March in Indianapolis. The Wolverines should have no prob- IN THE TANK lem winning there this year, after settling for second- and third-place finishes the past two years. So in the regular season, Urbanchek and his swimmers can do whatever they want, so long as they stay focused on preparing for the national champion- ships. In order to maintain their No. 1 ranking throughout the season, the Wolverines needed to beat No.2 Texas -and they already did that- and No. 3 Stanford, which is coming up this week. No need to run up the dual meet scores now. That would be classless. The team has the depth of a diving well to back up the standouts, but with guys like Royce Sharp, Chris Rumley, Gustavo Borges, Tom Dolan, Marcel Wouda and Derya Buyukuncu, the Wolverines should not have much of a problem in Indianapolis. Part of being classy means being intelligent, and if Urbanchek wanted smarts, he's got 'em. Seven swimmers, including Wouda and freestylers Courtney Faller and Thomas Blake, are Academic All-Big Ten. Urbanchek pulled his squad from the pool at the Harvard Invitational early to get home for classes. The meet wasn't even finished, and the Wolverines didn't win it, but those guys were sitting in their classes Monday morning. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this is the Wolverines' year to shine at NCAAs, and they're going to win it all for the 18th time. The returning swimmers have 12 NCAA individual championships and a total of 46 All-American plaques to their credit. Three of the freshmen are ranked in the top 50 in the world. The Wolverines should not have much of a problem in Indianapolis. And when these hard-working student-athletes win the national champion- ship, they will do it with class. Just like any other meet. 1993, when he was named Big Ten Swimmer ofthe Year. Instead of swim- ming in the events he swam in the NCAAs before, Woulda will try the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 breaststroke. If Wouda does that, he finally may be able to truly rest. t. Only $1,413. Or about $25. a month.t 6364/250, Apply' Color Plus 14" Display, AppleDesign" Keyboard and mouse. Only $2,588. Or about $49. a month.t BUY AN APPLE MACINTOSH NOW. PAY FOR IT LATER: We're not just making it easier for you to buy a Macintosh,'we're making it easier for you to buy something else you really need-time. Because for a limited time, with the Apple Computer Loan and 90-Day Deferred Payment Plan, you can own a Macintosh personal computer, printer, CD-ROM drive or other periph- erals without making asingle payment for 90 days.Combine that with no hassles, no complicated forms and already great student pricing, and the easy-to-use Macintosh is now incredibly easy to buy. The Apple Computer Loan and 90-Day Deferred Payment Plan. The solution that gives you theAp1 I power every student needs. The power to be your best:' i~ i Maantosh® Perfonne ;