Men's swimming heads for a showdown in Lone Star State

Today the Michigan men's swimming and diving team will compete in the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas.

The Wolverines will need their stars, senior co-captains Tom Malchow and Andy Potts, and sophomore Chris Thompson to provide strong performances if they plan to win the event.

Malchow was a silver medalist in the 1996 Olympics. He was the NCAA champion, and is a five-time All-American.

"We don't expect anything more than what we usually expect from him," Michigan assistant coach Eric Namesnik said. "We just want him to go down there and lead in and out of the pool. Same thing for Thompson and Potts."

Potts won the Big Ten title in the 400-yard individual medley last season.

"He's been through this before so he should be able to provide some senior leadership," Namesnik said.

Thompson was the Big Ten freshman of the year last year, and the Big Ten champ in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle. In the NCAA Championships he placed second and third, respectively, in those events.

"We're just looking for everyone to get better since the last time we were in the pool," Namesnik said. "We really just want to see Chris race tough and better than his last time."

As important as the stars are, the Wolverines' freshmen will need to turn in solid performances, too. The Wolverines brought in one of the best recruiting classes in the country last year, and at the head of the class was the top recruit in the country - Tim Siciliano.

"This will be an excellent experience for the freshmen," Namesnik said. "It is the first time that we have had a three-day format and it should help out down the road. This will be our last time racing before the end of the semester."

"The Big Ten tournament and NCAA Championships are also three days of races."

Fellow freshman Jeff Hopwood also will be looked at to help the team. Hopwood competed earlier this season on the Big Ten all-star team. He was accompanied by sophomores Thompson and Scott Werner, junior Mike McWha, and seniors Potts and Malchow.

In the sprint events, one area in which Michigan likely improved this year, the Wolverines will be led by freshmen Jordan Watland and Jon Arndt, along with junior Scott Myers.

"The expectations are not that high. We are just expecting a steady improvement," Namesnik said. "We are not expecting anything amazing, we just want to continue to get better throughout the year."

12-03-98