A 29-hour flight and a 16-hour time change are not part of the recipe for success in sports. Couple that with top-notch competition two days after the flight, and fatigue may begin to set in.
After a successful three-week training camp, the No. 6 Michigan men's swimming and diving team came back from Australia on Wednesday to swim against two top-five teams, No.1 Stanford and No. 5 California. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, training went better than the meets.
The Wolverines returned to the United States for their first action of the New Year on Friday. Waiting for them was the top-ranked Cardinal. The Cardinal was psyched up for the Wolverines, and they showed it, beating Michigan, 139-104.
"We really had a terrific training camp, but Stanford was ready for us," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "The jetlag got to us, but Stanford was better (Friday)."
Stanford won four of the first five events at the meet, and Michigan never seriously challenged. Stanford ended up taking 10 of the 15 individual races as well as both relays.
The Cardinal's extraordinary depth was exemplified by its 10 different race winners. Stanford's top two medley relay teams both finished ahead of Michigan's top team as Stanford dominated the meet from start to finish.
Michigan figured on an easier meet with the Golden Bears. But California swam an excellent meet, beating a tired Michigan squad, 156-126, on Saturday. According to coach Urbanchek, Cal may be better than its conference rival.
"California is perhaps a tougher team than Stanford right now," Urbanchek said. "They are swimming as well as anyone."
California received excellent performances from many of its top swimmers.
Junior Bart Sikora won the 400-yard individual medley, and both the 100 and 200 backstroke events. Junior Christian Claytor and freshman Bart Kizierowski both won two events.
Kizierowski anchored the 400 freestyle relay that also featured Markus Dicke, Lars Mersebur and Brad Kittredge. California's times in many of the events were faster than Stanford's winning times in the same races.
This is not to say that Michigan was without its own top performances this weekend.
Senior captain John Piersma won the 200 free at both meets and the 500 free against Stanford. Teammate and fellow senior Chris Rumley won the 500 against California. Piersma also anchored the 400 freestyle relay over the weekend.
"John Piersma swam extremely well this weekend," Urbanchek said. "He gave us a boost both days."
Sophomore Tom Malchow won the 200 butterfly on both Friday and Saturday. Malchow also finished second, just .08 seconds behind Piersma in the 200 free at Stanford.
Junior Steve Williams won the 1650 free against California with the personal best time of 15:30.29. Junior Derya Buyukuncu won the 100 butterfly against California.
The Michigan diving team had two strong performances over the weekend. Against Stanford, the divers took the top three spots in both the one-and three-meter competitions. Freshman Josh Trexler won the one-meter event at the Stanford meet while sophomore Brett Wilmot took first against California. On the three-meter board sophomore Al Fleming won both competitions.
Despite the two setbacks, there were many positives that the Wolverines can carry with them throughout the rest of the season.
They found out how well they will have to swim to compete against some of the top competition in the country.
The training camp that Urbanchek termed "very successful," should go a long way in building a team that will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
"The camp was excellent. It was too bad that we couldn't take one of the meets, but the team will be fine," Michigan assistant coach and two-time Olympic silver medalist Eric Namesnik said. "There was so much emphasis placed on this weekend with the two top-five opponents, but they should be fine."
AP PHOTO
Michigan sophomore Tom Malchow won his race, the 200-yard butterfly, but the team was not as successful. After all was said and done, Michigan lost to both Stanford and California as part of an extended road trip. The team had been training in Australia.