March 29, 1999 - SportsMonday - The Michigan Daily - 3B
.Siciliano surpasses Namesnik in record books
By Jon Zemke
Dgiy Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - Sometimes
when you're having a good day and
everything is going your way, you
should buy a lottery ticket.
Michigan freshman Tim Siciliano
should have bought one this weekend
vhile he was swimming at the NCAA
Championships.
The Big Ten freshman of the year
swam in three individual events, plac-
ing in the top five of each. The most
impressive of his performances was
his first placing finish in the 400-yard
individual medley.
The race has been one of the
strangest events for Michigan in the
ast- year with powerhouses like Tom
ban, Eric Namesnik and Andy Potts
*itting Michigan and NCAA record
boks.
.Dolan and Namesnik finished first
aid second in the 400 IM at the 1996
(J"npics, while Potts finished one
place away from making the team at
the Olympic trials.
Dolan's name covers all of the
Michigan and NCAA record books in
the event.
Siciliano added his siame to that list
with an outstanding p>erformance on
Friday to win the 400-yard IM. The
time was the fifth-fastest in history,
placing him second only to Dolan and
pushing aside current Michigan assis-
tant coach Namesnik in the school's
record book.
"Great," Namesnik said when he
learned Siciliano had' passed him.
"That's what the names are up there
for; that's what it's all about. I feel
great for Tim.
"Hopefully, we get eigght more guys
up there to knock me Out of the top
10."
Siciliano has had ttie benefit of
training with some of the very best
since he came to Ann Arbor. He has
last year's 400-yard IM Big Ten cham-
pion Potts by his side during workouts,
and enjoys Namesnik's coaching all
year.
There was also the added bonus of
training with Dolan before the meet -
training for the 2000 Olymnpics, that is.
"He beat me in workouts every day,"
Siciliano said. "He'll be beating me by
u ~
4 ~
a 8
1 .
y *E
\t f
eight seconds in the 150 (50 meters of
back stroke, breast stroke and butter
fly) and he was complaining about a
headache. And I was sitting there
wheezing and panting."
In the preliminaries of the 400 IM
Friday morning, Siciliano was the
number one seed.
His time of 3:46.23 that he set at Big
Tens while winning the championship
in the event was more than two sec-
onds better than the No. 2 seed.
Siciliano was so strong during pre-
lims that he was leading the pack and,
by the time the closest competitor hit
the wall, Siciliano was already halfway
back to the finish.
The NCAA champion's time,
3:45.56, was a full 3.3 seconds better
than the next finisher.
In the finals heat later that night
Siciliano wasn't quite as dominant, but
it made his record setting time that
much more memorable.
After the first leg of the butterfly
Siciliano was in a tight race for first,
but fell a body length and a half behind
during the backstroke.
"In a race like this if you go out too
"He's where
(Tom) Dolan was
his freshman
year"
-- Jon Urbanchek
Michigan swimming coach
fast then you're unable to bring it
home at the end," Urbanchek said.
"You have to budget. It's like four sep-
arate events."
But Siciliano did bring it home in
the end, regaining the lead during the
breaststroke leg by a nose and then
rocketing out to a huge lead in the
freestyle leg.
He finished ahead of second-place
finisher Buea Wibel of Georgia by
almost three seconds at 3:43.54.
The time was two seconds better
than high time earlier in the day,
3:45.56, and almost three seconds bet-
ter than his 3:46.23 time at Big Tens.
JIM
ROSE
Rose Beef
Crew'sv dedication shows, on
water and in publicati ons
Maichow closes out
storied M' career
4 ,.
a A
.; ;; ;;
a
'd§ x
1 >
NCAAS
Continued from Page IS
added a third place finish in the 1,650-
yard freestyle and a fourth in the 500
free. Not too shabby for a freshman.
And Michigan's other youngsters
were not to be outdone by Siciliano.
Sophomore All-American Chris
Thompson took second, for the second
year in a row, in the 1,650 free and third
in the 500 free. Thompson's time of
14:38.96 in the 1,650 was one of the
fastest performances in NCAA history.
Thompson has been defeated in the
event the past two seasons by Arizona
junior Ryk Neethling, who has never lost
the event in NCAA competition.
Another large bulk of points came
from Michigan underclassmen when
sophomore Scott Werner and the other
co-Big Ten Freshman Swimmer of the
Year Jeff Hopwood became All-
Americans by taking third and fourth in
the 200-yard breaststroke.
"Anything can happen between us,"
Werner said. "Hopwood and I train hard
together. We're gonna do wonders over
the next two years."
Juniors Mike McWha and Josh
Trexler also did their share by contribut-
ing points in Michigan's 800 free relay
and the 3-meter spring board.
Even though six of the Michigan
point-scorers are coming back next sea-
son, the two that aren't are going to be
pretty tough to replace.
Senior Brett Wilmot capped off a bril-
liant career and an even better senior
season by finishing 14th in the 1-meter
springboard and 12th in the platform to
score eight points.
The man the Wolverines are going to
miss the most though is senior co-cap-
tain Tom Malchow. Malchow had an
outstanding meet - ironically, he tied
for fourth with Siciliano in the 500 free
and he took second in his main event, the
200-yard butterfly.
The rock of the Michigan program for
the past four years finished out his career
with a second place in his best event. His
time of 1:43.58 was only 0.08 seconds
behind the national champion.
"I had my best time, I'm not disap-
pointed- there," said Malchow. "But, to
say I'm not frustrated would be wrong. It
left a bittersweet taste in my mouth. I
wanted to win it real, real bad and end it
on a high note."
Malchow is currently ranked as one of
the world's top butterfliers in the long-
course 200-meter fly. The international
pool is much better suited for Malchow's
swimming style, and he is looking for-
ward to the Olympics, where in 1996 he
won a silver medal in the 200-meter fly.
"It was so close. Maybe if I lost by a
second, I wouldn't be so frustrated, but I
was so close. Although it leaves a little
fire in me for international competition,'
Malchow said.
Urbanchek was happy with his team's
performance in the national champi-
onship.
"I feel bad for Malchow, but he tried
and there's nothing else you can do. All
in all, it was a fun meet, and it's always
fun when you're swimming fast,"
Urbanchek said.
%ffour first clue that the Michigan
men's rowing team is a little bit
unique is when you find its
practice site: It's almost 3 miles away
from the University's athletic campus,
through the woods and across a set of
railroad tracks. An English major
would have a field day with the sym-
bolism.
If you happen to walk out onto the
dock in the middle of a practice, as I
did last week, you'd be surprised to
find about 50 pairs of shoes strewn
about - but no rowers in sight.
Or, if you happen to find yourself
aboard the coach's little motorized
launch, trolling up and down the wind-
ing river alongside the rowers for a
couple hours, as I did on the following
day, you'd be - well, freezing. It did-
n't take long for me to realize, as I sat
next to coach Gregg Hartsuff, that the
team dynamic was an inter-
esting thing to watch - I've p
except it was tough, because fun a
my eyelids were frozen teamI
shut. -d
To me, it seemed that the andh
day's workout involved five bus
lengths of the river at an ang
even pace. But I was mal
informed by Hartsuff that prol
the practice was actually ._ ...-
designed specifically to
"maximize the transmission of oxygen
from the capillaries to the blood ves-
sels." Hmm.
Another hint that this team is
unique: They started their own news-
paper. Actually, that's only partially
true, but the inception of the beloved
ANTI-DAILY did come from team
member Mike O'Brien. And frequent-
ly, bylines in the humorous campus
newsletter tend to bear a striking
resemblance to the crew team's roster.
Who says club sports don't get recog-
nized in the press?
Journalistic tendencies aside, the
team started its competitive season this
past Saturday with a race at Cornell -
a top 10, fully funded, East coast varsi-
ty crew program. It was the first race
of what promises to be an interesting
season for Michigan's program.
Though hindered by its club status,
the men's rowing team is a serious
contender this year for a national
championship - among varsity pro-
grams. Hartsuff estimates that his pro-
gram operates on a budget of about
$100,000. To help out, the University
donates a whopping five grand -
about 20 percent of which goes right
back where it came from, to cover
'1
r
U
-d
IV
membership dues and facility expens-
es. And these are things that any club
coach has to deal with - but most
other clubs don't also have to buy their
own boats (about $22,000 for The
Millennium, Michigan's most recent
purchase).
To hear club president Greg Walker
tell it, "Coach Hartsuff is as dedicated
a person as you'll find. He really is the
one guy who has taken the program to
another level. He puts in so much time.
The guy's amazing."
Part of Hartsuff's job has been to
spread the word that his team is seri-
ous about competing on a national
level - and not just with other clubs.
Men's collegiate rowing is structured
in such a way that club teams compete
in the same races as varsity teams -
but few club teams can keep pace (pun
intended) with the big-money boys.
Beyond that, Hartsuff and
Oked his team are aware that
t thiS there's a certain stigma
efore, associated with being a
- "club."
he sof "Teams out east, oh
eIs of man," says rower Brian
r e- Conti. "We get no respect,
to even though we're right at
re it. their level. Guys out there
......--..won't even look at you, let
alone talk to you?.
In fact, the Wolverines have two
rowers - Tim Peterson and Steve
Warner - who are legitimate con-
tenders for spots on the U.S. National
Team. Warner's fastest testing time was
the third best by any collegiate rower
this year - varsity teams included.
Hartsuff said he would "be surprised"
if at least one doesn't get selected.
I've poked fun at this team before,
and I have bushels of angry e-mails to
prove it. But I will say this: I never
doubted that they were dedicated.
Watching a practice only confirmed it
for me. I tried to tell them as much
afterward, but I was so cold, my teeth
were chattering.
The interesting thing is that none of
these guys thought, back when they
were in high school, that they'd be
spending the better part of their col-
lege years on a crew team. None of
them planned to get hooked on the
sport. For various reasons, they just
decided to do it. But somewhere along
the line, they realized that it wasn't
enough to just do it - they also want-
ed to do it right.
- Jim Rose is an avid reader of the
Anti-Daily, and can be reached via e-
mail atjwmse@umich.edu
S.
*;:. 4> r
' £
JL y :
.. t '-£ i
c.L2N
xM~ KL
CKHRI$
~VEN II
KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily
ntor Brett Wilmot ended his Michigan career at this weekend's NCAA
Whampionships, where he finished 14th in the 1-meter springboard and 12th in the
10-meter platform.
Malchow keeps upstart frosh in line
By Jon Zemke
Daily Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - In a rare occurrence,
ere was a tie for fourth place in the 500
1*eestyle finals between Michigan senior Tom
Malchow and his teammate, freshman Tim
Siciliano. The two had been swimming the final
heat neck-and-neck the entire race; Malchow -
an Olympic silver medalist -in lane seven and
Siciliano in eight.
When they hit the wall the lane timers'
thumbs had clocked the
same time: 4:17.48. TheS
time was a personal best SWIMMING
r both of them, break- Notebook
ing their old records by ---.-------------
twofseconds. Both were incredibly surprised by
the result.
"Freshmen -you take your eyes off them for
a second and they get in trouble;" Malchow said.
But during the awards ceremony, Malchow
kept Siciliano in line after the race. The podium
was-comfortable for one person, but it was pos-
sible to fit two men.
Instead of trying to fit both swimmers on the
fourth place tier, Malchow took a step forward
.d claimed it. Siciliano settled for a level lower
on the fifth place podium.
"He figured I was an old man and I deserved
it I .guess," Malchow said. "I was ready to go
rock-paper-scissors for it."
CONSISTENT IMPROVEMENT: One ofthe over-
all keys to success is improving your perfor-
mance, whether it be a staggered improvement
or a constant move 1 oward self-betterment.
Michigan senior diver Brett Wilmot took the lat-
ter route during his colli-ge career.
During his sophomone year, Wilmot made his
first NCAA appearancs and took 16th place
after scoring his first point in an NCAA meet.
On his return trip the following year, he
improved and took 15th place. On Friday, the
senior took 14th place and scored three points
in the one-meter diving competition.
"I hope to take four and five points the next
couple of days," Wilmot ,said on Thursday.
Wilmot came close to his goals in his final
attempts of the weekend4, but he did not fully
accomplish them. On Friday, in the three-meter
competition Wilmot took 18th and didn't break
into the scoring brackets:
Saturday, however, Wilmot took 12th overall
in the 10-meter platform diving to score the five
points he wanted to end liis career with.
BLESSING THE WATERS: Many of the teams at
the NCAAs have quirky traditions.
Stanford fans like to w,-ar conifer tree gloves
while they cheer. In fact, they even have a fan
who is dressed up in a fill-body paper mache
pine tree costume while they wave the school's
flag, also an image of a pine tree.
But no tradition sticks out more than that of
Tennessee. Before the Volunteers start a session
of swimming, a captain crr senior on the men's
swimming and diving team puts on his bright
hunter orange and white warm-ups and a coon
skin cap. He then proceeds to go from platform
to platform on the starting blocks and throws
water into the pool.
But the contents in the Naya water bottle
aren't your everyday run-of-the-mill tap water.
Hunter safety Davey Crockett had brought
water from the Volunteers' pool in Knoxville in
order to make the unfriendly waters of the
IUPUI more like home.
"We bring our home pool water to all compe-
titions," Tennessee coach John Trembly said.
"Before all competitions we pour the water in to
make the pool is our own home pool."
The tradition began 32 years ago by then
coach Ray Buzzard in an effort to improve the
away record of the team.
ODDS AND ENDs: After taking all but third
place out of the top six places in the 1,650 free
at Big Tens the Wolverines hoped to finish with
a close to repeat performance after entering
three swimmers in the NCAAs. They came
close after taking second and third place. The
third swimmer finished in 15th place.
Big Ten swimmer of the year Chris
Thompson was the odds-on favorite to win the
event, but ended up three seconds out of the of
the top spot, again. Co-Big Ten freshman of the
year Tim Siciliano, who was having the best
meet of his life, finished second, while junior
Mike McWha took 15th, scoring two points.
KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily
Michigan senior Tom Malchow, swimming in his last meet as a Wolverine, finished tied for fourth in the
500 freestyle with freshman teammate Tim Siciliano. But it was Malchow who was a step ahead at the
award ceremonies, assuming the fourth-place position on the podium while Siciilano stood at fifth.
Hanging around Ann Arbor this summer?
the Summer Daily. Call 647-3336 to be
part of the tradition.
loin
a
- :
Chun-Ma Taekwondo " Kickboxing Acadamy
I"V^ w A dw A 1
ma
{llTa rra WAIar r&nlfrc of 'FREE ;LECTURE NOTES and Bauch morel