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 CANCUN, MEXICO Feb. 28 - March 7 7 nights ...........,... ........fr $199.90 7 night Air/Hotel packages........... fr $499.90 Please add taxes of $547.01 to above prices. ST. PETE, FLORIDA March 1 - March 8 7 nights.................fr$139.90 SARASOTA, FLORIDA March 1 - 8 7 nights............................. fr $139.90 NASSAU, BAHAMAS March 1 - 8 7 nights....................................... fr $259.90 March 1 - 8 7 night Air/Hotel (British Colonial)..... fr $789.90 March 1 - 5 4 nights....................................... fr $229.90 March 1 - 5 4 night Air/Hotel (British Colonial)....... fr $559.90 Please add taxes of $51.45 to above prices. Rates are per person, round-tnip. Participation contract required Prices valid at time ad was prepared H tebased on Superfare availability and subject to increase without notice Not included Airport PF. C. (S3- S6) INTERNET: h t tp:./lh m hf. c om .uL.2/11/98 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. Dear om and Dad, #I D 1 I W Don't call home for cash Call us for The Associates Visa card. You can get:\ * 3% cash back on purchases" 'w v ® Discounts on brand name merchandise * No annual fee n " Credit line up to $2,500 9I #I i II