Swimming 13th after NCAA first day

AUBURN, Ala. - You can't teach an old dog new tricks. But you can rely on the trusty servant to perform feats it already knows how to do.

So, despite the Wolverines' subpar 17th-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay during yesterday's preliminary round, Michigan men's swimming coach Jon Urbanchek wasn't all that surprised with his team's performance after the first day of the NCAA Championships in Auburn, Ala. Michigan ended the day tied for 13th place.

He wasn't upset because the Wolverines cleaned house in the event they've virtually patented at NCAAs the past few years - the 500 freestyle.

Junior Tom Malchow and freshman Chris Thompson each swam to record-breaking performances in the preliminary round, and carried their success over to last night's championship. Malchow took the silver and Thompson stood just below him with a bronze.<

JOHN KRAFT/Daily The Michigan men's swimming team ended the day tied for 13th place at the NCAA Championships.

p> Thompson's preliminary race was probably the most exciting moment of the day for Michigan. After lagging behind at the start, he began to come on during the middle of the race. Thompson caught up to Stanford freshman Steven Brown and swam the last lap neck-and-neck with him, pulling away at the very end.

"There's a point in the race when you say 'I'm going to start picking it up,'" Thompson said. "So I held off until the last 150 or so. It wasn't until then that I saw Brown over there in lane eight. The last 25 or 50 I knew I was catching him. If I'm even with somebody the last 25 or 50, I'm not gonna lose. I guess I've got this uncanny ability to come back at the end, to go all out."

Malchow's first race was a different story. The Olympic silver-medalist dominated his heat from the start, beating the next-best by 1.05 seconds.

He barely held onto first place, however, because Arizona's Ryk Neethling made a torrid run at the new record, missing it by just .04 seconds during the fifth and final preliminary heat.

The Wolverines' records were short-lived, however. Thompson's preliminary swim in 4:18.45 was the fastest ever in the James E. Martin Aquatics Center, but only until the next heat, when teammate Malchow swam a 4:18.25.

Still, the junior didn't swim nearly fast enough to break the NCAA record in the 500 free. Former Wolverine standout Tom Dolan still holds that honor - another testament to Michigan's domination in the event.

"This was pretty much what we expected," Urbanchek said. "We did pretty well in our domain. But we do that every year. We usually have four or five people, so this was no big deal."

Malchow swam even faster in the championship last night, but he would not retain his pool record, because Neethling would return the favor. The Arizona sophomore swam a time of 4:13.42 last night, denying the Wolverine his first-ever individual championship by an astounding 4.38 seconds.

In all, six Wolverines competed in the 500 free - which has always been Michigan's dominant area - during yesterday morning's preliminary round.

Urbanchek's swimmers didn't fare as well in the shorter races. Freshman Scott Werner finished a dismal 43rd in the 200 individual medley. Werner was dead last in his heat, even though he entered with the lowest seeding time.

Malchow, Thompson, Potts and Owen von Richter were the only Michigan swimmers who placed in the top 16 and advanced to an evening session. But the latter two were forced to settle for the consolation final.

Unfortunately, a disappointing performance in the 400 relay may have cost Michigan its shot to break the top five at NCAAs. Urbanchek has been saying for weeks that the Wolverines are capable of finishing as high as fourth.

"A fourth-place finish is a long shot right now," Urbanchek said. "We won't even be in the top ten as of tonight. The only thing that didn't go right today was the relay - no one else could have contributed more. We needed the relay because this meet is relay-oriented. If your relays aren't up there, you're not going to score a lot of points."

03-27-98