Blue recovering from mid-season illness

After weeks of the "Blue plague" that has ravaged the ranks of the Michigan men's swimming and diving team, the Wolverines are looking their healthiest in quite some time.

"Pretty much everybody is back," Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek said. "Everybody who is able is back in the water ... No more flu, no more cold, no more wimpies."

That should be something different for the Wolverines as they travel to East Lansing for their second Big Ten dual meet in as many weeks.

Last weekend, the Wolverines went to Bloomington and were upset by the Hoosiers. But Michigan was without the services of five swimmers because of injuries and illness.

Two of the five, freshmen Jon Arndt and Jason Mallory, are out for the rest of the season after having major surgery on their shoulder and knee, respectively.

Senior all-American Tom Malchow, Michigan's top swimmer, was one of the three that were the most severely affected by the "plague," missing two meets with the flu.

Fellow senior all-American John Reich and freshman Tim Siciliano were also kept out of practice and meets because of sickness, including last week to Indiana.

"Indiana was a different story," Urbanchek said. "Malchow, Siciliano, and Reich - three of the big point getters - were out. Now they're back in the water. They're not a 100 percent, but they're good enough to get by this dual meet."

The Spartans should not prove not to be too much of a problem for the Wolverines. On paper, Michigan has faster times than just about the entire Michigan State squad.

"It should not be a very difficult dual meet," Urbanchek said. "State is not that strong, but they have a couple of real good swimmers."

Michigan State only sports two swimmers that have comparable times to Michigan's elite.

Sophomore John Munley is the Spartans' best swimmer, competing in the 200- and 500 yard freestyle. He took fifth and 13th place in both races at the 1998 Big Ten Championships. He also took 14th in the 1,650 free.

Munley was also the first alternate at the 1998 World University Games.

The other swimmer that threatens to Michigan is Spartan freshman Aaron Mahaney.

Mahaney was 1998 USA Swimming all-American in High school and US Swimming Junior National Champion. He the Spartans' best chance to score in the butterfly and is another threat in the free.

"They (Munley and Mahaney) will probably be able to challenge us," Urbanchek said. "Other than that nobody else will."

Challenging is really all the Spartans can hope to do because Malchow is Michigan's fastest man in the 200 and 500 free and in the 200 fly.

Malchow won a silver medal in the 1996 Olympics in the 200 fly.

When Michigan takes on Michigan State this Friday at 7 p.m. Urbanchek and his team can expect to win by a landslide on paper.

With his team just recovering from the "Blue plague," the meet is in danger of becoming an upset. But Urbanchek is unfazed by his team's chances of winning.

"Basically we're ready to go," Urbanchek said.

02-04-99