The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Senior Dan Madwed notched first-place finishes in the 200-yard butterfly and the 100-yard butterfly to help the Wolverines upset No. 2 Texas 150.5-149.5 in early November, igniting a 6-0 start that catapulted U-M to No. 4 in the national rankings. PHOTO COURTESY U-M SPORTS INFORMATION UPWARD TRAJECTORY Streaking U-M Program Gets A Big Boost From Upset Over No. 2 Texas I BY ANDY REID n many ways, the Michigan men's swimming and diving team's thrilling 150.5-149.5 vic- tory over No. 2 Texas in No- vember was a microcosm of its entire season, thus far. Tried-and-true stars like senior Dan Madwed (200-yard butterfly and 100-yard butterfly), sophomore Kyle Whitaker (200-yard individual med- ley) and junior Ryan Feeley (1,650- yard freestyle) won early events to help put Michigan in the lead. And then lesser-known commodi- ties pulled off a few upsets. Soph- omore Connor Jaeger, swimming against the Longhorns' three-time All-American Jackson Wilcox in the 500-yard freestyle, won the event with a time of 4:20.15. He also won the 200-yard freestyle, with sopho- 80 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2012 more Michael Wynalda taking sec- ond for much-needed points. Fresh- man Richard Funk won the 100-yard breaststroke, and fellow rookie Bruno Ortiz helped out on the second-place 200-yard freestyle relay team. That formula has pushed the Wol- verines to a 6-0 start to the year and a No. 4 ranking in the latest top-25 poll. "Everyone expected Kyle Whitaker to do what he's doing, but the team is made up of 28 guys," Michigan head coach Mike Bottom said. "The fun part as a coach is to see everyone develop to the point where we can compete at a national level. "The hope is always to get the most talented recruits in the country every year. What I've found here is we're getting talent, but the advan- tage at Michigan is that, because of the culture here, the talent is devel- oping much faster here. That's the most exciting thing going on right now. We've got Conner Jaeger — no one knew who that guy was, com- ing out of high school. We have Mike Wynalda — he was OK; he was good for Michigan, but now he's one of the top [swimmers] in the country." Bottom has no problem admitting that the Wolverines' lineup isn't as talented as Texas' lineup. Focusing on developing the talent it has, Michigan has vaulted into the national top five. The coach is surprised at the pro- gression some of the younger swim- mers, such as Funk and Ortiz, have made in the last couple months. "As a coach, my job is to help them reach their potential. I'm not going to limit them by setting goals for them," Bottom said. "The truth is, there are a few guys in here that if I would have