Swimmers to meet nation's other No. 9 team in Chapel Hill

By Steven Jackson

Daily Sports Writer

When one thinks of the best No. 9's of all time, images of Ted Williams, Gordie Howe and Red Berenson come to mind. This Friday and Saturday a couple more No. 9's will face off at the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Speedo America's CSCAA coaches' poll ranks the Michigan and North Carolina women's swimming teams in a tie for ninth place. Both teams bring identical 1-1 records to the pool.

The Wolverines are in the middle of a tough four-week stretch to start the season. To break the monotony and keep the girls sharp, Coach Jim Richardson has instituted a number of lineup changes for this meet.

"We are going to move some people around this week, and we'll return to our regular places for the Rice Invitational next week," said Richardson. "We will have lots of girls swimming secondary events. This will help keep our top swimmers from becoming stagnant and also give us a chance to evaluate our 11 freshmen."

"It's nice to try something new," co-captain Missy Sugar said. "The same race over and over can get boring."

North Carolina is coming off a very strong showing in a road loss to No. 4 Georgia.

"They are really swimming well," Richardson said of the Tarheels. "We just aren't ready to swim at that speed. We haven't reached that level yet."

Unlike many sports like basketball or hockey where winning matches early in the season directly effects the teams' playoff position, in swimming all that matters are the final conference and national meets.

"We are going to concentrate on evaluation more than scoring points this week," explained Richardson. "Everything we do is designed to help us peak at the NCAA's."

One matchup that will remain intact is the diving battle between freshmen Lindsay Waddell of North Carolina and Michigan's Tealin Kelemen. Each is coming off individual wins in her last meet.

Richardson also believes that the distance freestyle swimmers match up well against one another. The Wolverines are lead by freshman Emily Fenn, who posted a strong effort this past weekend against two former All-Big-Ten selections in Iowa's Melissa Loehndorf and Wisconsin's Ellen Stonebraker. North Carolina counters with junior Molly Sullivan - fourth place in school history in the 1650-yard freestyle.

North Carolina coach Frank Comfort led the Tarheels to a tough 187-183 win over the Wolverines last year. He had nothing but good things to say about Michigan and Richardson this time around.

"Our team really looks forward every year to competing with U of M. They are always superbly coached, well prepared and of course, one the nation's finest teams," said Comfort. "Our schools have a lot in common in all respects and this type of competition brings out the best in everyone."