The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 15, 1997 - 11 Richardson's swimmers use bus time for grades By Afshin Mohamadi Deily Sports Writer Silence. That is all anyone hears for the first two hours of the Michigan women's swimming team's long bus trips. The Wolverines, however, are not deep in their thoughts, contemplat- ing their upcoming meet. Instead, they are hard at work to succeed in their classes. As mandated by coach Jim Richardson, the Wolverines must study for the first two hours of bus trips, and the team complies. In fact, the swimmers study so hard that their mean first semester grade-point average was around 3.3, the highest of any semester during Richardson's 12-year tenure at Michigan. "One of our team goals this year was to have a (team) GPA of 3.2 or higher, which we achieved," senior captain Anne Kampfe said. That the Wolverines did so well academically should be no surprise to those who know how highly Richardson values success in acade- mics. "Jim is very much the type of coach who definitely stresses acade- mics over athletics," Kampfe said. "He stresses that (academics will be) all we have in our post-Michigan careers." Richardson, in fact, demands that future Michigan swimmers under- stand the importance of getting a decent education. "When I recruit, I make sure to (emphasize) that (athletes) are here to learn first," Richardson said. "I'm "tWhen I recruit, I make sure to (emphasize) that (athletes) are here to learn first. I'm clear about what's important" - Jim Richardson Michigan women's swimming coach AP PHOTO Michigan sophomore Tom Maichow competed for the United States over the summer in Atlanta, but now he's back to com- pote for the Wolverines. Malchow took first in the 200-yard butterfly against Stanford last Friday and finished behind team- mate John Plersma in the 200 freestyle. Wolverines r fequent- }Ier mes between meets clear about what's important." To enforce concentration on schoolwork, Richardson institutes policies that ensure his swimmers are caught up in their studies and not exhausted at the same time. Included in these is a policy which states that if any swimmer is study- ing past 2 o'clock in the morning, she must skip the team's workout at 6 a.m. While Richardson's rules help the Wolverines maintain a high GPA, he gives most of the credit to the will of the athletes to work. "When we're on the road, you can see how they operate," Richardson said. "They always have their books with them. They don't want to be average (and are) willing to do more work than what's required. You never have to question their work ethic." Not only does studying hard push the Wolverines to succeed in their classes, but Kampfe said it relaxes them a bit going into meets. "The two hours (you are studying), you aren't thinking about the meet, which kind of helps take your mind off of your race," she said. Because the Wolverines emphasize schoolwork, they faced a dilemma during their training trip to Coronado, Calif. over the past two weeks. The winter term began in Ann Arbor toward the end of the trip, so the swimmers had to missehe begin- ning of their classes. Richardson decided to send 12 swimmers back to Michigan to attend classes. The Wolverines ended up losing their last two meets. Michigan's best swimimers stayed in California to keep its commitment to compete against Stanford and California, and Richardson made some of his other athletes take care of business in the classroom. Perhaps, as Richardson said, a rea- son the Wolverines are able to main- tain high academic standards is because their sport is not one in which they have a professional future, nor the lure of agents and millions of dollars. Nevertheless, they have exceeded the academic performance of the majority of the student body at Michigan - not to mention the other athletic teams - and have done so through nothing but hard work. By TJ. Berka Deily Sports Writer During the past month, the Michigan men's swimming and diving team has ben flying at a rate that would make any 1vel agent quiver with fright. Since Dec. 21, the Wolverines have flown 29 hours and have had to change time zones 16 times. The Wolverines started their incredible journey four days before Christmas, flying from Detroit to Perth, Australia. " 'After 17 days of training in Australia, the Wolverines flew to San Francisco last weekend for meets against California and Stan ford. Predictably, fatigue set in for the Wolverines in the Bay Area, and they dropped both meets. "We had a terrific training camp, but the jet lag got to us,' Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. *Although the Wolverines finally returned to Ann Arbor on Sunday, their luggage isn't being put away any time soon. Instead, the Wolverines head to Dallas this weekend for the Dallas Morning News Classic. SEEING RED: With their 139-104 vic- tory over Michigan on Friday, Stanford holds a 6-4 lead in the all-time series against Michigan and gave itself a five- meet winning streak against the Wolverines. The win also helps keeps the Cardinal in an exclusive group. The top-ranked Cardinal is the only squad to post a win- ning all-time record over the Wolverines in Michigan's 76-year history. TO BE THE BEST, ONE MUST PLAY THE BEST: While their two losses this week- end add up to one more than they had all of last season, the Wolverines can't be accused of setting up an easy schedule. Of their four meets so far, three have been against the top five nationally- ranked teams. The Wolverines lost to Stanford and fifth-ranked California last weekend, but they also boast a victory over then-No. 1 Texas in November. Michigan is not set on taking the rest of the regular season off, however. This weekend in Dallas, the Wolverines will once again have to prove themselves against top competition, this time facing the top six teams from last season's NCAA championships. Along with the Longhorns and the Cardinal, Michigan will have to fight off Auburn, Tennessee and host Southern Methodist to capture the Classic. ANOTHER OLYMPIC MOMENT: The Wolverines' prowess in Atlanta this past summer is set to be rewarded once again, this time at halftime of Sunday's Michigan-Iowa basketball game at Crisler Arena. During the nationally-televised game, Visa Gold will contribute S1,000 to the University in honor of Eric Namesnik, a two-time Olympic silver medalist and current graduate assistant coach. UNTOUCHABLE: If every other Michigan coach's record were judged against Jon Urbanchek's record in his 14 years at Michigan, job security would become a contradiction in terms. Even with the two losses this weekend, Urbanchek has compiled a 117-15 record at Michigan. While this winning percentage of .886 is impressive, it is overshadowed by his Big Ten record of 67-2. Coupled with this record is a 33-meet winning streak dating back to 1989. I I U o you know where your student ID is? How about your k e g ? Your computer disk with the term paper n that's due today? Your ATM card? of1 .®" a1 a 099 . Where all you have to bring is what you reed to copy. Oh yeah, and some money. But not as much if you mention this ad upstairs from Rick's Expores 4M3G W No other discorlt .-.,W 4W Watson Wyatt Worldwide The Wyatt Company Watson Wyatt Worldwide helps clients succeed by increasing their return on invest- ment in people. Watson Wyatt Worldwide is an alliance between R. 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