8B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 20, 2000
Youthful tankers deemphasize NCAAs to aid in development.
By David Roth
Daily Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA
Championships.
Throughout the entire season, Michigan
women's swimming coach Jim Richardson
emphasized their importance.
And for good reason.
The NCAAs are a culmination of months
of training, a time where Richardson show-
cases his squad to teams across the country.
Since this is an Olympic year, and most
Olympic swimmers are of college age,
Richardson, like other coaches, gets the
opportunity to exhibit who the Wolverines
might be sending to Sydney this summer.
The championships are also important for
recruiting. Top high school athletes want to
head to top college programs and placing well
at NCAAs is a great selling point.
Often, premium high school swimmers will
only apply to top five or top 10 schools.
And the Wolverines badly want to be one of
them.
Since the cream of the swimming crop are
schools like Stanford, California-Berkeley
and UCLA, Michigan's academic reputation
can't carry the load it might in other sports.
Plus, when thinking of swimming, the coasts
of California are a bit more likely to pop up in
recruits' minds than Ann Arbor.
But for the Michigan's women's swimming
team, this weekend's NCAA championship
meet in Indianapolis was anything but the
zenith of a six-month season.
The Wolverines finished 14th overall, noth-
ing to cry to mom about, but their perfor-
mance was certainly less than what they were
capable, and a finish much lower than their
runner-up effort in 1995 and their top runs in
the early 90's.
And this year was different than past years.
Michigan's talent isn't quite at the level of
past decade's teams.
So instead, because the Wolverines knew
they weren't tops in country, they non-con-
sciously de-emphasized the NCAAs for a
regional meet a month before - the Big Ten
Championships.
Indeed, Richardson emphasized the impor-
tance of Big Tens, but the swimmers stressed
it even more.
The Big Ten Championships provided just
the smaller-scale competition Michigan need-
ed. It was this meet that the Wolverines chose
to lay it all on the line. It was the meet where
Michigan decided it would go for the gold. It
was this meet, in retrospect, where Michigan
gave its last hurrah, certainly not at the
NCAAs where a good performance might
have helped Richardson sleep a little easier.
An example of this hardcore emphasis is
that captain Shannon Shakespeare and stand-
out Jen Crisman shaved their arms and legs
for Big Ten's. Having an effect similar to that
of ankle weights, swimmers usually don't
shave during the season, and then choose one
big event to shave in hope that the less resis-
tance will equate into faster times.
Shakespeare's and Crisman's combined
five record-breaking swims resulted.
At the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan
earned more points than any other team, and
20 of 22 swimmers set personal best times.
The swimmers were well rested and their per-
formances peaked.
Also, the meet was Shannon Shakespeare's
last opportunity to swim yards, since NCAAs
and Olympic competition is in meters.
Shakespeare swam her finest and earned
Swimmer of the Championship.
At the NCAAs, Michigan brought only
seven swimmers. Coach Richardson did not
rest them enough, and they were extremely
tired. They didn't seem adequately prepared
for the transition from yards to short course
meters. And, unlike Big Ten's, the rest of the
team, an abundance of fans and familiar com-
petitors weren't there to motivate the
Michigan swimmers.
Combine this with Shakespeare swimming
with personal adversity on her shoulders, cop-
ing with the death of two friends who died in
two separate car accidents between Big Ten's
and NCAA's.
Indeed, a favorable performance at Big
Ten's, despite a sub-par national showing, is
what's best for a young Wolverine team that
boasts 17 freshmen.
Despite not wowing the nation or potential
recruits, Michigan has given its young swim-
mers experience and confidence at an impor-
tant meet that will likely show up in the
future.
KRISTEN GOBLE/ Daily
"I'm happy the way i swam. I'm not going to complain," Shannon Shakespeare said after her final meet.
Tired tankers end NCAAs below expectations
KRISTEN GOBLE/Daily
Jenny Crisman hugs her teammate this past weekend at the NCAA Championships
in Indianapolis.
By Sam Duwe
1Daily Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - You can't judge a book by its
cover. There is more to life then being number one. And
according to Michigan women's swimming coach Jim
Richardson, one meet doesn't define his team.
This past weekend, the Wolverines placed 14th at the
NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving
Championships. Although not a devastating finish for
Michigan, it was a sub-par performance for a team that
had placed amongst the top eight in the nation for the
past eight years.
"We didn't do as well as we wanted, but we put every-
thing we have on the line,"junior Missy Sugar said.
But swimming all out couldn't save the Wolverines
from the nemesis of the aquatic world: Fatigue.
"We just swam tired," Richardson said. "We didn't
have a lot of zip, quickness or speed coming easily."
Richardson took a gamble in preparing for the NCAA
Championships. He pushed his swimmers to train hard,
hoping it would pay off and generate fast times. But the
house won, and Michigan's performance suffered.
"I played a bit of a hunch (two weeks) after Big Tens
because I thought we could tolerate a little more work,"
Richardson said. "I thought it would serve us well com-
ing in this meet. Hindsight is 20/20, and in this respect I
would say that this is the error that put us where we are.
Amongst the swimmers, Sugar did the best job of
putting the situation into perspective.
"We just needed a little bit more rest, but you know,
what are you going to do?" she said.
Richardson took full responsibility for the loss,
explaining that no blame can be put upon his swimmers.
"To their credit, they did everything they were asked
to do," Richardson said. "It wasn't their fault. We defi-
nitely don't have anyone who has a motivation problem.
"It's difficult emotionally to come here and not swim
your best. But we have class kids. We'll get back off the
mat and come back to fight another year."
Richardson took the disappointment hard. However,
he believes that there is more to a good swim team then
just swimming fast.
"I think that there are more important things then
being number one," Richardson said. "We live in a soci-
ety where if your number two, you're told very clearly
'You're the first loser, Jack.' I absolutely don't believe in
that. But if you think it's easy to sit here and go through
this, I assure you, it's not. It hurts."
This philosophy brings to light two major ways of
thinking in the swimming community.
The first school of thought is to recruit the best ath-
letes in the world and create a powerhouse team that will
win national championships. The second ideology,
which Richardson adopts, is to look at the full person
when recruiting to see if they will fit well into the team
and be, as Richardson puts it, "future assets to society"
"We need to find people who are willing to commit
themselves to Michigan because of what Michigan ath-
letics really stands for and really tries to do - produc-
ing well-rounded student athletes" Richardson said.
His swimmers have faith in his philosophy.
"I really respect Jim," senior captain Shannon
Shakespeare said. "He's very analytical, he's a great
coach that way. He really looks at what he can do better,
as well at what the athlete can do better. He goes back to
the years prior to see what worked and what didn't."
Seven Michigan swimmers competed in the field of
270. One of the standout performances came in the was*
in the 200-meter freestyle relay, where Shakespeare,
Sugar, Jenny Crisman and Laura Kaznecki took sixth
place in the finals. Also, Shakespeare finished sixth in
the 200-meter individual relay, although she felt she
could have done better.
"I'm just swimming a little bit tired," Shakespeare
said. "I've had some emotional ups and downs the past
two weeks. The big picture is there for me - I'm just
trying to keep everything in perspective. I'm happy the
way I swam. I'm not going to complain."
For a freshman making her initial appearance at the .
NCAA Championship, the experience can be over-
whelming. But, Michigan's freshmen - Kaznecki and
Karlson - did not appear fazed.
"I'm having a good time, it's great experience seeing
how fast everyone is swimming here" Karlson said.
Shakespeare's last collegiate meet with her team left
her somewhat misty-eyed.
"It's a little bit emotional," Shakespeare said. "It's my
last meet for Michigan and that definitely means some-
thing to me. I'm just trying to enjoy every minute of it"
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KRISTEN GOBLE! Daily
Freshman Laura Kasnecki helped the Wolverines finish sixth in the 200-meter freestyle relay.K0
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Women's
golf takes
eighth .
By Rhonda Gilmer
Daily Sports Writer
Mow the green!
The Michigan women's golf team
competed in its second tournament
this past weekend. The trip to Daytona
Beach, Fla. for the Stetson Hatter
Spring Fling presented a challenge RO
the Wolverines.
There were many other competitive
schools in the 18-team field, such as
Florida Southern, Florida Atlantic,
Yale and Charleston Southern. For two
days, the Wolverines competed in a
36-hole event, finishing eighth with a
total score of 649. Courtney Reno tied
for sixth overall in the event, shooting
a 79 on Saturday and a 75 yesterday.
Misia Lemanski shot 80-82 to lea*
the Wolverines. Kim Benedict shot
85-82, Bess Bowers fired an 85-86,
and Jennifer Baumann scored 82-84
during the two-day tournament. Iowa
won the event.
"We didn't have an 'A' game, and