AUBURN, Ala. - Alabama highway commissioner Jimmy Butts makes sure every border has a welcome center/rest stop - southerners are famous for their hospitality, of course. But the sight of prisoners in coveralls stamped 'Alabama Department of Corrections' landscaping the sun-dappled oases off of Alabama's pine-lined highways is a little jarring. Not quite what you'd expect, but fitting for Michigan at the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships this past weekend.
Things just didn't go as expected for the seventh-ranked Wolverines, as they finished "lower than a frog's ass." At least, that was how Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek put into words Michigan's 12th-place finish in the 36-team meet. The Wolverines hadn
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| JOHN KRAFT/Daily The Michigan men's swimming and diving team finished a disappointing 12th at the NCAA Championships. |
Michigan's goal all season had been to break into the top four at nationals. The Wolverines reasoned that Stanford, Auburn - the defending champion and host - and Texas would be too tough to crack. But the list of the other teams they found just as hard to break was as long as Mike McWha's face after the Wolverines placed ninth in the 800-yard freestyle. It is Michigan's bread-and-butter, having won the title in the event five years in a row.
The sophomore hung on a lane marker trying to let the pain drain out through tired legs. He stared blankly at the block 'M' on the swim cap in his hands.
"We're not the same team we were last year," he said. "I gave my best, but it wasn't enough, obviously."
McWha could have spoken for most of the Wolverines.
After Tom Malchow's fifth-place finish in the 200 butterfly - the event with which he struck Olympic silver in 1996 - Malchow could only say, "It just wasn't there," of his performance.
The only Wolverines who didn't seem to be swimming in chains were Owen von Richter and Chris Thompson.
In 1995, when Michigan was the team diving into the pool off the awards stand, von Richter placed third in the 400 individual medley.
That was the only moment of this year's meet that resembled the Wolverines' glory days, as von Richter again walked away with the bronze.
"He put everything on the line," assistant coach Eric Namesnik said.
Also putting it on the line, but with less success, was junior Brett Wilmot, the only Michigan diver to qualify for the meet. He struggled his first day in the one-meter springboard, but was optimistic after his 15th-place finish in Friday's three-meter event.
After his 27th-place finish Thursday, diving coach Dick Kimball said Wilmot "wasn't real sharp." After the three-meter, however, Brett said he was "definitely more confident" for Saturday's platform event - his specialty.
Wilmot remained in contention for a scoring position on the platform until his feet hit the tower on a dive he said he hits in practice every day. The low scores dropped him to 18th.
"This was the worst meet of my life," Wilmot said.
Wilmot, like his teammates, didn't find answers this weekend.
The Wolverines could only pack up and leave to soothe their wounds with thoughts of next season.
Urbanchek said that the brightest point of the meet was the way Thompson, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, withstood the pressure of his big races. Thompson swam to third in the 500 free and second in the 1,650 free.
"He's gonna be tough," said Urbanchek of his top freshman's future.
Thompson said he couldn't wait for next year. But what about the four seniors on the team who ended their careers - ones that started with an NCAA title - on a sour note?
"You can never look at it that way," Derya Buyukuncu said.
Steve Williams called his time at Michigan a "great experience" and said he "wouldn't have it any other way."
No regrets. Maybe that's the perspective that comes with four years of experience.
McWha said that his second year, a year in which Michigan also lost to Minnesota at Big Tens, has him seeing things in new ways. He said seeing Minnesota on top of the podium at the Big Ten Championships made him value the conference crown he won his freshman year even more.
"I didn't realize what success was until it's gone," he said.
Maybe that's the hardest lesson there is.
03-30-98
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