Tankers top pack after first day

By Jeb Singer

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan men's swimming team is taught to finish events stronger than it starts them. They did just that today.

"You gotta bring it home in the end," Michigan coach John Urbanchek said.

Urbancek might as well have been talking about the three-day Big Ten Championships.

After the first day of the morning preliminaries and evening finals, top dog Michigan has left the rest of the contenders on the porch. But the 53-point cushion they currently possess could easily become a memory if the team does not continue to lay it on the line.

"Round three is usually the key," coach Urbanchek said. "You can't ease up in any round. You are going to get knocked out real fast. Each round is like a dual meet. It's six dual meets."

Michigan is doing well through the first two rounds.

"We're doing really well, we got a good cushion," junior Chris Thompson said. "We have not clinched the championship though."

The 53-point cushion could have been even bigger on paper.

"If we get 75 points on the field today, we'll be in good shape," Urbanchek said with two events left in the night.

While greediness is usually not polite, the team clearly could use the cushion because tomorrow's events are not their strongest.

"Today's events were our best events. But we still have a few other best events," Urbanchek said. "You have got to swim fast in preliminaries in the morning."

While the Wolverines may turn in some big victories over the remainder of the championships, they will have a tough time dominating another event the way they did in tonight's 500-meter freestyle.

The Wolverines, who have gone 1-2 in every 500-meter meet in Canham Natatorium this year, dismantled all conference challengers going 1-2-4-6. Freshman Garrett Mangieri, who finished fourth, almost caught Purdue junior Matthew Martin at the end. Mike McWha finished second after Matin's early commanding lead dwindled away.

"That's a lack of experience," Urbanchek said of Martin's strategy. "And also probably a little bit of stupidity."

Junior Wolverine Chris Thompson showed anything but a lack of experience in winning the event and rewriting the pool record book with a time of 4:20.31.

"This is our pool and our event," Thompson said. "It will stay in Michigan control."

With Minnesota and Penn State waiting in the wings, time will tell whether Chris Thompson was also speaking about the 2000 Big Ten Championships.

Afterall, you gotta bring it home in the end.