4B -The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, April 1, 1996
SWIMMING
Tankers' lack of depth
-too much to overcome
Wolverines lose valuable points in the shorter events
--4-
By Susan Dann
and Doug Stevens
Daily Sports Writers
AUSTIN, Texas - As an actor,
Tom Cruise is quite experienced with
the necessity for quickness.
In "Days of Thunder", Cruise puts
the pedal to the metal as a race car
driver, knowing that the only way to
win is to be the fastest.
But the role which personified the
actor's desire to defy the speed limit is
the one when he played Maverick in
"Top Gun".
One quote alone best exemplifies
this notion - "I feel the need, the
need for speed."
Although he didn't know it at the
time, Cruise had found the formula for
winning the 1996 NCAA Men's Swim-
ming and Diving Championships.
Given the numerous amount of events
catered to proficiency in the 50- and
100-yard freestyle races, it should come
as no surprise that in the end, the teams
that dominated the sprints, Texas and
Auburn, finished first and second in the
meet, respectively.
Meanwhile Michigan, the defending
champion noticeably without an en-
trant in either the 50 or 100 freestyle
events, could finish no higher than third.
The Wolverines, who were without
last year's victor in the 50, 100 and 200
"I feel badly for
us. It shows the
depth of our team
that I'm doing
sprints.
--Tom Dolan
Michigan swimmer
freestyle races, Gustavo Borges, fin-
ished the meet with 358 points as op-
posed to last year's 561 total, marking
the loss of Borges' 60 points in the
sprint events.
Michigan's absence in the sprints
helped enable both the Longhorns and
the Tigers to widen their leads on the
otherwise-talented Michigan team as
the two squads amassed a lot of points
in the 50 and 100 free events, in addi-
tion to the sprint relays.
In the 50 free, Texas placed swim-
mers in fourth, sixth and seventh
places while Auburn had athletes fin-
ishing eighth and 13th.
Even more noticeable were the two
teams' domination of the 100 free. In
this race, Longhorn swimmers cap-
tured the third spot, in addition to the
12th-15th places. The Tigers had their
four entrants finish sixth through
ninth.
Add this all up (113 for Texas and
98 for Auburn) and that explains
Michigan's best-chance scenario with
a third-place overall finish with no
sprint freestylers.
The Wolverines compensated for
their lack of speed by swimming sev-
eral of their top swimmers out of their
specialty events in the sprint relays.
Consider Michigan's 400 freestyle
squad of Jason Lancaster, Derya
Buyukuncu, Chris Rumley and John
Piersma, which finished a distant
eighth in the championship final.
In swimming a 100 freestyle leg,
each of the Wolverines were swim-
ming out of event. Buyukuncu and
Lancaster are backstrokers and
butterfliers, while Piersma and
Rumley are more proficient in the 200
and 500 freestyle races.
Despite his proven versatility and
talent in the individual medley, Tom
Dolan found himself swimming per-
haps his weakest stroke, the breast-
stroke, in the 400 medley relay.
"It's unfortunate," Dolan said. "If
I'm the best guy for that, I feel badly
for us. It shows the depth of our team
that I'm doing sprints. They're really
stretching me this season."
It's not inst you Tom
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AP PHOTC
The Texas swimming team won the 1996 NCAA tournament io Austin with 479 points. Auburn finished second with 443.4
points and last year's champion, Michigan, finished third with 358 points.
There's more to Michigan
coach than meets the eyeW
By Susan Dann
Daily Sports Writer
AUSTIN, Texas-Michigan men's
swimming coach Jon Urbanchek is
regarded as one of the world's great-
est coaches. His prowess in the sport
has earned him the respect of swim-
mers and coaches around the world,
and he has the hardware to prove it.
The most recent additions to his
resume include the
Award, given to
the previous
year's champion-
ship coach, and
the Wolverines'
third-place finish
at this year's
NCAA tourna-
ment.
Five of his
swimmers, three
current and two
Baton of Victory
Notebook
Jamail Swim Center as the finalists
arrived on deck before their events, as
well as when the awards were handed
out.
Among this year's most notable
tunes-Guns 'n' Roses, Motley Crie,
Pearl Jam, Van Halen, AC/DC, Black
Sabbath and Tone Loc.
The selection provided extensive
listening pleasure for a wide range of
musical tastes,except foreasy-listen-
ing fans and the large group of Texans
who still swear by the inspirational
power of Garth Brooks and other coun-
try music.
Who's to say if the music had the
motivational effect intended?
Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A."
might have had an effect at the U.S.
Olympic Trials, but in the final heat
of the 100 freestyle in Austin, the
Boss's psychological significance was
lost on the event's participants -
Francisco Sanchez from Venezuela,
Ricky Busquets from Puerto Rico,
Nick Shackell from England and Bela
Szabados from Hungary.
SO LONG, FAREWELL: Captain Jan
Wenzel, the only senior making .the
trip to the championslips this week-
end, competed in his final meet as a
Wolverine.
Finishing 17th in the 1,650 freestyle
for the second consecutive year,
Wenzel missed Honorable-Mention
All-American honors by just over a
second.
"I felt really good about my time
it's my highest finish at NCAAs,
Wenzel said. "I'm really glad I swam
faster than I did at Big Tens."
Wenzel will graduate this May anc
start law school in the fall.
"I'm glad to be done," Wenzel said
"I'll miss the team and the meets, bu
practice hurts a lot. I don't thinkg
miss that much."
A DIFFERENT KIND OF LANE: The
Wolverine swimmers donned the
maize and blue Nike warm-ups whic-
the basketball team and fab-fivei
Juwan Howard have made fashion-
able.
The jackets, in contrast to the tradi.
tional nylon warm-ups worn by th
other participating teams, caugh
many people's attention at the ch#
pionships.
In fact, some even mistook the zip.
pered short-sleeved jerseys for bowl-
ing shirts.
"What's your team shooting thi
year?" Stanford coach Skip Kenne)
asked Urbanchek.
Urbanchek responded, "I thin
we're bowling about a 300. I don'
know much about bowling, but Ithink
that's a good score."
REPEAT PERFORMANCE: The lA
Men's Swimming and Diving Cham
pionships will be aired on ESPN at 1
a.m. April 2 and at 2 p.m. April 6
n's Tom Dolan set three pool records and one American record at the NCAAs in Austin, Texas.
TANKERS
Continued from Page 3B
case its swimmers, four of whom are
-headed to Atlanta this summer.
At the top of the lineup was Dolan, the
{ Wolverines' money man and arguably
:the best swimmer in the world.
This weekend, Dolan showcased his
talent, versatility and durability in captur-
ing three individual events in addition to
-'therelaytitle, all in record-breaking times.
He set new Jamail Texas Swim-
'ming Center records with his time in
:the 400 IM (3:41.44), 500 free
',4:12.77) and 1,650 free (14:38.37),
'without really being challenged. The
only reason Dolan failed to set new
'American records in these events is
that the previous standards he had set
;,were simply too difficult to attain
without the benefit of an opponent
Rpushing him.
Dolan's performance at the NCAAs
Splaced him in highly esteemed company.
aHis three individual wins, along with
,those same three victories last year, made
him the first swimmer to win three indi-
vidual events in back-to-back years since
Olympic gold medalist Matt Biondi ac-
complished the feat, back in 1986-87.
"It's definitely a great honor to be
mentioned in the same sentence as such a
great swimmer as Matt Biondi," Dolan
said. "It's been a great couple of years for
me at Michigan."
Although Dolan was the only indi-
vidual event winner for the Wolver-
ines, six other Michigan swimmers
earned All-America berths. Of those
six, Tom Malchow, Piersma and
Lancaster combined to earn four sec-
ond-place finishes.
Piersma, fresh offhis Olympic qualify-
ing performances in the 200 and 400-
meter freestyle races at trials, again ex-
hibited his skills in this stroke at the
NCAAs. In addition to swimming a strong
leg for the 800 freestyle relay team, he
finished runner-up in both the 200- and
500-yard events.
Malchow also made his first appear-
ance since qualifying for the Olympics.
The freshman captured the 200 butterfly
at the U.S. trials and finished second this
past weekend in the same event with a
time of 1:44.64.
"It was a great experience swimming at
my first NCAAs," Malchow said. "I'm
happy with my 200 fly. I was hoping to
win it, obviously. It hurt me a little bit."
Derya Buyukuncu, who is headed to
Atlanta this summer on the Turkey na-
tional team, earned two All-America
berths in the backstroke. He placed fourth
in the 200 back and sixth in the 100.
Andy Potts, Lancaster and Rumley
were all trying to overcome disap-
pointment after failing to make the U.S.
Olympic team. The three turned in All-
America performances in Austin.
Potts finished fifth in the 400 IM and
sixth in the 1,650 free.
In addition to contributing to the record-
setting effort of the 800 free relay team,
Lancaster and Rumley both turned in
good races oftheir own. Lancaster placed
second in the 100 fly, third in the 200 IM
and seventh in the 200 back.
Although Rumley was disqualified
from the 200 free, he earned individual
All-America honors for his fifth-place
finish in the 500.
former, secured spots on the 1996
U.S. Olympic team under his guid-
ance and training earlier this month.
This achievement earned Urbanchek
the honor of assistant coach on the
U.S. team.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: Casey
Kasem wasn't there.
Nor was Rick Dees.
But the championships still sounded
like a rock n' roll countdown without
them.
Music echoed throughout the
1
'
{
e
'M' success in the tangy
Toby Booker
16. 200 yard backstroke (Honorable Mention All-American)
20. 100 backstroke
Derya Buyukuncu
4. 200 backstroke (All-American)
6. 100 backstroke (All-American)
7. 400 medley relay (All-American)
7. 200 medley relay (All-American)
8. 400 freestyle relay (All-American)
9. 200 butterfly (Honorable Mention Ali-American)
Tom Dolan
1. 500 freestyle (All-American, pool record)
1. 400 individual medley (All-American, pool record)
1. 1,650 freestyle (All-American, pool record)
1. 800 freestyle relay (All-American, American record)
7. 400 medley relay (All-American)
7. 200 medley relay (All-American)
Jason Lancaster
1. 800 freestyle relay (All-American, American record)
2. 100 butterfly (All-American)
3. 200 individual medley (Al-American)
7. 200 backstroke (All-American)
7. 400 medley relay (All-American)
7. 200 medley relay (Ali-American)
8. 400 freestyle relay (All-American)
Tom Malchow
2. 200 butterfly (All-American)
18. 500 freestyle
24. 200 freestyle
Joe Palmer
10. 1,650 freestyle (Honorable Mention All-American)
27. 500 freestyle
John Piersma
1. 800 freestyle relay (All-American, American record)
2. 500 freestyle (All-American)
2, 200 freestyle (All-American)
7. 400 medley relay (All-American)
8. 400 freestyle relay (All-American)
Andy Potts
5. 400 individual medley (All-American)
6. 1,650 freestyle (All-American)
11. 500 freestyle (Honorable Mention All-American)
Chris Rumley
1. 800 freestyle relay (All-American,
5. 500 freestyle (All-American)
7. 200 medley relay (All-American)
8. 400 freestyle relay (All-American)
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