The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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58 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2017 BY LELAND MITCHINSON T hough the Michigan women's swimming and diving team led by just 14.5 points heading into the final day of the Big Ten Champion- ships, the Wolverines saved their best for when it mattered the most. Of the 28 athletes on the team, 26 scored on the final day to push the margin of victory to 162 points and clinch the team's second straight conference championship — the first back-to-back titles for Michigan since 1997-98. For Michigan head coach Mike Bottom, the climb to the top of the conference has been about the at- titude surrounding the team more than having a handful of stars. "Our culture is team driven," Bot- tom said. "Even though we are an individual sport, we are team driven, and every single woman who swims on this team, it's not about them- selves but it's about this team. "Going into Saturday, we were only 14.5 points ahead, and they knew it and they were looking in each other's eyes and enjoying each other, and then they celebrated to- gether as they went into that last 40 [yards]." Bottom is in his fifth season as the coach of the women's team and has seen the team grow as a unit during that time. Prior to last year's cham- pionship, the women's team had not won a conference title in 12 years, and much of the turnaround stems from the leadership that has developed on the team. "We have some incredible leaders in our junior and senior classes, that both live out their individuality and yet put their arms around the team," the coach said. "That's a pretty excit- ing thing to have happen as you think about our future. "Every senior scored [at Big Tens]. Every senior scored on the last day, which is even more significant. Those are seniors that, most of them didn't score last year, some of them didn't even go to the meet last year. Because of the team, because of the culture, they were able to raise their perfor- mances to a level of leadership." Those senior swimmers put their best performances forward at the very end of their careers since none ad- vanced to the NCAA Championships. The divers provided a boost for Michigan on the final day of the Big Ten meet, taking places 11-13, 16 and 20. Senior divers Allie Murphy and Keegan McCaffrey, plus freshman Kristen Hayden, all qualified for na- tionals with strong showings at the NCAA Zone C Diving Champion- ships. In total, 13 Wolverines — one more than last year's 12 that helped U-M finish 10th — will compete at NCAAs, held March 15-18. U-M ended up with a comfortable distance between themselves and sec- ond place, despite being in third place at the end of day two and the fact that the team only saw first-place finishes in four events. By comparison, last year's team brought home seven Big Ten event titles. "We only won four titles out of all those events, and yet we won by over 150 points," Bottom said. "That's called team, and that's what we pound the table about at Michigan." Individual Big Ten championships were won by junior G Ryan in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle events, and sophomore Siobhan Haughey in the 200-yard freestyle. Ryan and Haughey were joined by Yirong Bi and Gabby DeLoof on the first-place 800-yard freestyle relay, which set school, meet and conference records with at time of 6:55.34. With the sustained success for the Michigan team, which was ranked sixth nationally in the Feb. 17 coaches' poll, Bottom took some time to step back and reflect with his coaches on what the program has built and the culture that has been created. "After all of the team celebration was done, when we received our plaque and were on TV and every- body jumped in the water, the last people to get out of the water were [the coaches]," Bottom said. "We just looked in each other's eyes and just enjoyed it. It wasn't about the second championship, it was about under- standing that this is a culture and this is a team. "We were really happy. Anyone can win one championship if you just put the right people together one time. When you win two in a row, what that means is that you're going in the right direction as a culture." OLYMPIC SPORTS Women's Swimming And Diving Crowned Big Ten Champs Despite winning just four individual event titles, the Wolverine women were able to capture a second straight Big Ten championship. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS