Women's swimming reaches end of era

It is the end of an era for Michigan women's swimming.

This weekend, nine swimmers will compete in their last Big Ten Championship. Talor Bendel, 12-time Big Ten Champion, 16-time All-American and one-time NCAA champion, will probably be remembered for the fast times she posted and the records she set - both in the Big Ten and Michigan record books.

But Bendel would much rather be remembered for other contributions.

"I want to be remembered for leadership qualities, what I contributed to the team makeup and mostly for who I am outside of swimming," Bendel said. "I think my high school swim coach, Larry Lyons, is the one who taught me the most about how I shoul

SARA STILLMAN/Daily Talor Bendel is a multiple NCAA All American in the free relay, but she also swims butterfly for Michigan.

d be as an athlete. He taught me a lot about life and ... I've tried to follow that example."

Being a student-athlete at Michigan is time-consuming - this season, Bendel put 22-23 hours per week into training. But Bendel said she has no regrets.

"I think maybe my schoolwork suffered a little," Bendel said. "But I don't mind. As far back as I can remember, swimming has always been a huge part of my life. I'm just really happy to have been a part of the tradition."

The memory that most vividly sticks out in Bendel's mind from her Michigan career is from the NCAA Championships of her freshman year. She swam a leg of the 400-meter freestyle NCAA-Championship relay, which helped lead the Wolverines to a second-place finish at the meet.

"It was great," Bendel said. "We were the best team at the meet, and it paid off."

Heavily recruited in high school, Bendel was considered a top-flight incoming collegiate swimmer in her first year at Michigan.

"We recruited her because she is the type of self-motivating person who, when presented with opportunities for success, takes them," Michigan coach Jim Richardson said. "We knew she was a great swimmer, but she's also a great person - she's got a great sense of humor and is just fun to have around."

Bendel terms herself a "naturally very competitive person" who just loves the challenge of being the best she can be. In that way, she fits Richardson's view of the ideal swimmer.

"When we recruit, we want someone who's achievement-oriented and will operate at a higher level without having to be taken by the hand," Richardson said. "Those kind of people will give you 110 percent every day."

Bendel and the rest of the Wolverines are heading to the Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships today.

"Since our Hawaii training trip over Christmas break our team's been great," Bendel said. "It hasn't always come easy. We decided at the start of the season what our goals were going to be. There are reminders everywhere.

"We've all put in the work, we're swimming fast, everyone's ready and we should be fine. The main thing is to have fun this weekend and hopefully it should all pay off. We want to bring back our 12th (Big Ten championship) in a row."

02-17-98