Depleted men's swim team 16th

By Benjamin Singer

Daily Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS - The underrepresented Michigan men's swimming team will have a tough time meeting a team goal.

With just six swimmers, no divers and one relay, a top-10 finish is, in the words of coach Jon Urbanchek, a long shot. Michigan is in 16th place with just 29 points, well behind first-place Texas (173).

"We don't have a team here," Urbanchek said. "We have to weigh (success in terms of) individuals."

An All-America and two honorable mentions helps those goals.

Junior Chris Thompson earned the fifth All-America recognition of his career in the 400-meter freestyle by coming in first place in the afternoon preliminary trials with a time of 3:48.81.

The favored Ryk Neethling of Arizona took first place overall for the third year in a row. Neethling knocked five seconds off his preliminary time to set a United States record in the 400 free, touching the wall in 3:40.47. Thompson finished third.

"I knew he took it easy in the prelims," Thompson said of Neethling's dramatically increased time in the finals. "I did the same thing last year (coming in first in the trials and third in the finals). Maybe it's fate I get third every year."

Thompson hopes a similar fate doesn't play a hand in his race tomorrow. He has placed second to Neethling in the 1650-yard freestyle - replaced by the 1500-meter in this championship - each of the past two years.

"That's my better event," said Thompson. "Hopefully I'll come in first this time."

Sophomore Tim Siciliano came in 12th in the trials but finished 11th in the finals with his best time of 3:46.69 for an honorable mention.

"Thompson and Siciliano got into the rhythm of this meet," Urbanchek said. "They're on pace to do well this championship."

Freshman Tony Kurth just missed an All-America in the 200-meter individual medley as he finished .9 seconds behind eighth place, a mark he needed to get into the finals. In the consolation heat, Kurth added about 2.5 seconds to his time in the afternoon to finish just 16th for his honorable mention.

"That's alright, he's a freshman," Urbanchek said. "He was so psyched for the finals, he wasn't prepared for the consolation heat."