10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 17, 1998
Women's swimming reaches end of era*
Former Swedish
defender Ulf
Samuelsson looks
on as Sweden'sN
Mattias Ohlund '7'
hits Eduard
Zankovets of;
Belarus. Looking a
on is just about,
all Samuelsson4
will do for the
next two weeks
- The New York
Ranger was
kicked out of the
Olympics
because of a
nationality
conflict.
AP PHOTO ,'/
Sweden's Samuelsson
ousted fro-mOlympics
By Uma Subramanian
Daily Sports Writer
It is the end of an era for Michigan
women's swimming.
This weekend, nine swimmers will
compete in their last Big Ten
Championship. Talor Bendel, 12-time
Big Ten Champion, 16-time All-
American and one-time NCAA champi-
on, will probably be remembered for the
fast times she posted and the records she
set - both in the Big Ten and Michigan
record books.
But Bendel would much rather be
remembered for other contributions.
"I want to be remembered for leader-
ship qualities, what I contributed to the
team makeup and mostly for who I am
outside of swimming," Bendel said. "I
think my high school swim coach, Larry
Lyons, is the one who taught me the
most about how I should be as an athlete.
He taught me a lot about life and ... I've
tried to follow that example."
Being a student-athlete at Michigan is
time-consuming - this season, Bendel
put 22-23 hours per week into training.
But Bendel said she has no regrets.
"I think maybe my schoolwork suf-
fered a little," Bendel said. "But I don't
mind. As far back as I can remember,
swimming has always been a huge part
of my life. I'm just really happy to have
been a part of the tradition."
The memory that most vividly sticks
out in Bendel's mind from her Michigan
career is from the NCAA
Championships of her freshman year.
She swam a leg of the 400-meter
freestyle NCAA-Championship relay,
which helped lead the Wolverines to a
second-place finish at the meet.
"It was great," Bendel said. "We were
the best team at the meet, and it paid off."
Heavily recruited in high school,
Bendel was considered a top-flight
incoming collegiate swimmer in her first
year at Michigan.
"We recruited her because she is the
type of self-motivating person who,
when presented with opportunities for
success, takes them," Michigan coach
Jim Richardson said. "We knew she was
a great swimmer, but she's also a great
person - she's got a great sense of
humor and is just fun to have around"
Bendel terms herself a "naturally very
competitive person" who just loves the
challenge of being the best she can be. In
that way, she fits Richardson's view of
the ideal swimmer.
"When we recruit, we want someone
who's achievement-oriented and will
operate at a higher level without having
SARA STILLMAN/Daily
Talor Bendel is a multiple NCAA All American in the free relay, but she also swims
butterfly for Michigan.
NAGANO, Japan (AP) - Sweden
will lose defenseman Ulf Samuelsson in
the Olympic men's hockey tournament
because of a citizenship problem but
won't have to forfeit its two victories, the
International Ice Hockey Federation
decided yesterday.
The federation ruled after learning
that Samuelsson, who plays for the
NHLs New York Rangers, has valid
passports from both the United States
and Sweden, spokesperson Paolo lanieri
said. Under Swedish law, that means he
is not a Swedish citizen.
The federation's ruling allowing
Sweden to keep its tournament points
means there will be no reordering of the
quarterfinal matchups.
If Sweden had been required to forfeit
its two victories, it would have dropped
from second place to fourth in its pool
and would have faced unbeaten Russia
instead of Finland in the quarterfinals.
The United States would have moved
up from third to second, avoiding the
Czech Republic and dominating goal-
tender Dominik Hasek and playing less-
formidable Finland instead. Samuclsson
is one of Sweden's most physical players.
His "only statement is that he has two
passports," the Swedish news agency TT
quoted Swedish hockey team spokesper-
son Leif Emsjo as saying before the fed-
eration's decision was announced.
"He has no idea that he has changed
nationality."
to be taken by the hand," Richardson
said. "Those kind of people will give you
110 percent every day."
Bendel and the rest of the Wolverines
are heading to the Big Ten Swimming
and Diving Championships today.
"Since our Hawaii training trip over
Christmas break our team's been great,"
Bendel said. "It hasn't always come easy.
We decided at the start of the season
what our goals were going to be. There
are reminders everywhere.
"We've all put in the work, we're
swimming fast, everyone's ready and we
should be fine. The main thing is to have
fun this weekend and hopefully it shouk
all pay off. We want to bring back our
12th (Big Ten championship) in a row."
A . .0=4- -OCN4
Nation
Germany
Norway
Russia
Austria
Canada9
Netherlands
Japan
Finland7
United States
Ialy
Nagano 1998 medal count
Gold
Silver
6
5
7
2
4
3
3
2
6
7
3
3
4
3
1
3
1
3
Bronze
6
4
1
6
1
l
3
2
4
2
Total
18
16
11
11
9
7
7
7
7
7
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Italy 7
CLEAVES
Continued from Page 9
But things have changed. Cleaves insists that he
isn't the same player from last season. Because he's
healthy, he said, he'll be more explosive offensively
and will become a better defender.
"Last year, people came down on me and they
went wherever they wanted to go," Cleaves said. "I
couldn't really get down into it. I couldn't really dic-
tate which way I wanted people to go. Now, I think
I can do that a little bit better this year."
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said the
biggest change he sees in Cleaves is his appearance.
"Well, I see a lot less of him because he's a lot
skinnier," Izzo said.
Cleaves played last season at 225 pounds, but
trimmed down to 190 during the summer.
Izzo said he's looking for Cleaves' defense to
improve Michigan State's overall defensive play.
The Spartans were fourth in the Big Ten in scoring
defense last season, giving up 65.6 points per game.
"It's hard to be a good defensive team if your lead
guy, your point man, is not checking, because that's
who everybody is going to look at," Izzo said.
With Cleaves heading the offense, Izzo said early
in the year that he believed his point guard could be
one of the best point men in not just the conference,
but also the nation.
"I think there are very few true point guards left,"
Izzo said. "He's a true point guard, but he can shoot
it. He's not one of those point guards like Eric Snow
or Mark Montgomery."
In a modest tone, Cleaves said no comparisons
can be made between him and other current point
guards in the nation.
"There's no player out there I can compare myself
to," Cleaves said. "I've got my own style.
SPARTANS
Continued from Page 9
hurt the Gophers. Minnesota started the second half shad-
owing Cleaves, and Klein scored the Spartans' first II
points after the break by hitting an array of open jumpers.
He finished the game with 19 points on 5-of-8 3-point
shooting. Cleaves, not surprisingly, had 10 assists, and the
Spartans won the game.
In the Spartans' IlI-point victory over then-No. 24 Iowa
on Feb. 7, it was Smith who did the scoring, as he tied a
career high with 17 points. Add that to his nine rebounds
per game, throw in Klein, and toss in senior DuJuan
Wiley's 78.1-percent shooting from the field in the past
eight games - yes, he makes 78.1 percent - and the one-
dimensional Spartans suddenly don't look so one dimen-
sional anymore.
And, of course, there's the Breslin Center crowd. The
rowdy fans are generally much louder than anything thee
Wolverines are used to hearing inside Crisler Library, er,
Arena, and if there's one game all year that Johnny Spirit
and company gear up for, this is the one. Even in last year's
meeting, when neither the Spartans nor the Wolverines had
a shot at winning the Big Ten, Louis Bullock had a rough
time with the East Lansing faithful.
"They don't even know me, and they hate me," Bullock
said. "I don't understand. They don't know me as a person.
They'll find anything to say.
"The student section is right behind the (television com-
mentators), so you hear some things that maybe should be*
on H BO."
Also affecting Michigan, perhaps even more so than the
hostile crowd, will be the status of senior power forward
Maceo Baston. Baston sat out last Wednesday's game
against Ohio State with a fracture in his foot, and is expect-
ed to be out for at least another week.
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