Sections

Swimmers try to repeat as champs

Perhaps the most difficult and challenging aspect of being a champion is dealing with top contenders the following year.

After finishing in the top 10 in the nation for eight straight years, the Michigan men's swimming and diving team was able to surpass Stanford and win its first national championship since 1961 last season.

Now the Wolverines must deal with all of their ambitious challengers who are determined to earn the title that they worked for years to attain.

At the NCAA national championships that begin today in Austin, Texas, the No. 2 Michigan squad will have to contend with the likes of fellow top five teams, Auburn, Texas, Stanford and Tennessee.

The 1996 Wolverines have already discovered the difficulty of defending titles. At the Big Ten championships in February, Michigan lost its 10 year stranglehold on the event when it was defeated by a determined Minnesota team.

While the Wolverines are mentally tough heading into this meet, their biggest hindrance may lie in their lack of manpower.

They took only 11 swimmers down to the Lone Star State. Although this list includes the likes of Olympic qualifiers Tom Dolan, John Piersma, Tom Malchow and Derya Buyukuncu, plus Big Ten champions Jason Lancaster and Joe Palmer, there are numerous holes in the Wolverines' lineup.

Michigan is going to sorely miss last year's sprinting superstar, Gustavo Borges, who won the 50, 100 and 200-yard freestyle events at the 1995 meet, and breaststroker Steve West, who graduated with Borges last May.

"Gustavo's loss is worth about 200 points," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said.

The loss is going to hurt even more considering the team will be without an entry in both breaststroke events and the 50 and 100 free. To compound their troubles, the Wolverines will be without distance freestyler Owen von Richter, who is competing in the Canadian Olympic Trials this weekend.

In addition to those four races, Michigan will not enter anyone in the 200 free relay or the three diving events.

In order to defend their title, those Wolverines competing will have to dominate the events in which they are entered.

"We're not contesting eight events," Urbanchek said. "We don't have any divers. We can do well in the events that we are strong in, but we have to hope that the other teams fight each other for spots in the sprint events. After everyone beats themselves up in the sprint events, we hope we can come in the back door to win. For us to come in first, everyone has got