Michigan Men’s Swimming: A History

After going on a rampage last month and writing ridiculously long posts about swimming related topics, Brian has asked me to try and raise some awareness for the Swim Team through weekly posts. And so I begin on this journey, hoping to foster interest in the sport and create a rabid fan base that packs 110,000 into Canham Natatorium (knowing full well that the fire marshal will be called).

Unbeknownst to many, the Michigan Men’s swimming and diving program is one of the most respected and prestigious varsity sports that the University has to offer. Since it’s inception in 1921, the program has racked up an astonishing 18 National Titles, while only employing 9 different coaches. The 86 seasons of Men’s swimming have produced many outstanding and unparalleled accomplishments, from NCAA individual and team championships to Olympic medalists and world record holders. Of the 9 coaches that have been employed by the University, 6 have coached for less than 5 years. While those 6 briefly tenured coaches certainly did leave their mark on the program, there were 3 coaches who oversaw 75 years of Michigan Swimming History. The fact that those 3 coaches succeeded at such a prominent level for an average of 25 years each, is simply astounding. Now, I don’t want to go too much in detail on the coaches here for hopes of keeping this post a respectable length however, for those interested, expect a full post on Michigan Swimming’s Coaching History to be out soon.

While success at Michigan is synonymous with the storied football program, Michigan swimming is the epitome of domination, never finishing less than fourth in the conference (excluding the first year of “conferences” when Michigan finished 6^th). Over its history, the Men’s team has achieved a record of 613-118-6 for an 83.6% winning percentage. In addition to this overall record, Michigan has gone 404-57-4 in Conference for an 87.3% clip. Now take a second to comprehend that. Michigan has won more than 80% of its meets. If you had bet money on Michigan winning the conference every year, you would have been right nearly 40% of the time, an astounding number especially given the consummate depth of the Big Ten. Michigan has, on average, won a national championship every five years, although most of this success was achieved during the Matt Mann coaching era (this includes unofficial national titles which Michigan won prior to the inception of the NCAA Championship Meet), resulting in 18 national titles, a record that no other varsity sport can claim. (Note: In addition, Michigan is the only school that can boast three coaches who have won NCAA championships in Swimming)

In an era where rankings mean everything, to both player and fans alike, the swim team’s unmatched success has gone unnoticed by the majority of the alumni, except for the brief moments during which the team walks across the football field to honor their accomplishments (a tradition that I was able to take part in before the Illinois game). The swim team’s worst NCAA performance was 25^th with the second worst performance being 17^th. The team has finished in the top 5 an astounding 48 times. Now all you football fans out there, think about that. How excited would you be if the worst the football program ever finished was 25^th? What if that was a year that they went 9-0 overall and won the Big Ten? That is how successful Michigan swimming is; success that unfortunately and unrightfully goes all but unnoticed, buried beneath a magnanimous group of high-profile, high-revenue programs.

Rivals:

Much of the allure of the more high-profile sports (football, basketball, hockey) has been generated through the emergence of hated rivals. The Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry pushed both programs into the main stream, with the rivalry growing to be arguably the best in all of sports. The Swimming program is not without its own notable adversaries. Unlike many of the traditional varsity sports, though, Michigan’s main rival has been Indiana, who we have managed a respectable 41-29-2 (58.3%) record against. Another of our main rivals, one you might recognize, is Ohio State, who finished 2^nd in the NCAA Championships five of the eleven times Michigan won. Despite their reputable history, the record that they compiled while competing against Michigan was anything but illustrious. To date, Michigan has compiled a 63-11-2 (84.2%) record against Ohio State. While they may have been good, we were better.

As for the rest of our big ten rivals:

Illinois:16-0-0 (100%)*

Indiana: 41-29-2 (58.3%)

Iowa: 28-2-0 (93.3%)

Minnesota: 36-2-0 (94.7%)

Northwestern: 38-4-0 (90.5%)

Ohio State: 63-11-2 (84.2%)

Penn State: 6-0-0 (100%)

Purdue: 54-0-0 (100%)

Wisconsin: 43-4-0 (91.5%)

*(Our last meet against Illinois was in 1989 before their team was cut from the budget)

Now those are some good numbers, against quality opponents. I say this only because I intentionally left out Michigan State until this point. If you’re a Sparty you might want to look away, you probably won’t take kindly to this part:

Michigan State: 79-5-0 (94%)

The first meet between the two instate rivals was held during Michigan’s inaugural year and from that point on Michigan achieved a dominance that Mike Hart would have been proud of. In doing research on State’s swim team (I wanted to have stats to back up my statement of their ineptitude) I was unable to locate a team history. I think that is a statement in and of itself that MSU hadn’t even compiled a history for a team that has been competing since 1922. The following is slightly biased and is targeted towards a very recent timeframe (due to my affiliation with Michigan sports and my age), however, Michigan State swimming has managed to flounder, despite the popularity of swimming in the Midwest. To put it simply, despite a lot of fast swimmers coming out of Michigan, there have only been handfuls that have attended State… over 86 years. Some of this is due to inferior facilities which can severely damper a recruits interest, although Michigan’s doesn’t rival the modern aspect that some, such as Tennessee have recently achieved. More importantly, if you are a fast swimmer you go to Michigan. It’s as simple as that.

Now that I’ve gone on my Sparty rant, I have realized how long this post is getting. For that reason I will cut it short, with a few ideas fresh in my mind for future posts (Coaches, Olympic tradition/famous swimmers & divers, Recruiting, and a Current update of the swim team). If there’s anything in particular you guys want me to write about just let me know. I understand that Swimming and Diving is not one of the sports that everyone follows, however I hope that by sharing my enthusiasm for the sport and our program in my continued posts, I may be able make fans out of you.

As I'm sure most Michigan fans know by now, tomorrow is the team's annual fan day. Fans will have the opportunity to meet the players, get autographs (one per trip through the line, mind you), and this year, see the inside of the Al Glick Fieldhouse as they wait in line for an autograph from fearless leader. Anyway, MGoBlue drops the details:

The event is free and open to the public. Fans will be allowed to enter the autograph area starting at 12:30 p.m. Parking will be available in the Blue Lot surrounding Crisler Arena. Fans can enter the area through the southwest entrance (just over the railroad tracks) or through the northeast entrance (main softball entrance)...

Michigan players will be signing autographs inside Al Glick Field House and Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. Coach Rodriguez will be signing autographs inside Glick Field House, near the entrance to Schembechler Hall. There will be inflatable items and games for kids on the outdoor practice field.

Sounds like much more of an event than in past years (and if you followed my writings at Varsity Blue, you know I'm very much in favor of this), and should be a fun time for fans who can make it out. It's also the first chance to purchase the "All-in for Michigan" towel, pictured above:

Towels purchased at Fan Day are $5. Towels will be sold for $6.99 after Fan Day at the M Go Blue Shop, The M-Den, Moe Sport Shops, Dunham’s Sporting Goods, Dicks Sporting Goods, area Meijer stores, and The Pizza House on U-M’s campus. A portion of the proceeds from each towel will benefit the campaign to build a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital.

I encourage any Michigan fans who have the opportunity to attend this event tomorrow afternoon.

Last year at my old digs, I chronicled the weekly performances of Michigan commits in their final season of high school ball. That feature, Friday Night Lights, will make the move with me to MGoBlog. High school football news is not always so easy to come by, even in today's internet-centric world, so let me know if you have any additional information for any installment of the series.

MI QB Devin Gardner

By all accounts, Gardner is poised for a monstrous senior season. He's worked hard over the offseason on improving his ability to throw the ball, his conditioning should be at a peak, and his Inkster Vikings are expected to be one of the best teams in the state of Michigan.

There are a couple things that could hold him back: The Vikings play every single game on the road, including a couple trips to the Cleveland area, and another to Steubenville, Ohio (damn near in West Virginia). He also lost his #1 target from last year in current Wolverine Cameron Gordon. Still, look for excellent numbers from Devin in this space.

SC QB Cornelius Jones

Jones's season last year went poorly, as did his team's. However, Spartanburg should be one of the most improved in the area, and Jones will try to put up better numbers. In his second year under the current coaching staff, and Cornelius's second playing high school football, there's nowhere to go but up.

TX RB Stephen Hopkins

Hopkins, named one of the best players in the Dallas area, will try to build on a solid junior season and show that he is an elite player. However, he may make more of an impact defensively than carrying the rock.

TX RB Tony Drake

Drake has been a do-everything for Skyline. This year, he should be the starting RB after last year's starter moved on to Iowa State.

MI RB Austin White

White put up pretty good numbers last year, as he led Stevenson to the state semifinals before bowing out to eventual champion Rockford. The only thing that prevented him from getting ridiculous stats was a ton of blowouts. The Spartans should be a pretty strong team again, and White should have the opportunity to continue mixing long runs with steady production on the ground. Look for him to potentially flex out as a receiver more often this year, and hopefully contribute on defense.

MI WR Ricardo Miller

Miller moves from Orlando to Michigan, where he'll be a major boost to Pioneer's receiving corps. He'll be the #1 option for the Pioneers and should put up impressive statistics.

MI WR/TE Jeremy Jackson

Jackson's Huron River Rats are making the transition to a triple-option offense, which doesn't bode well for his receiving numbers. He is also changing positions (probably to tight end), so it remains to be seen what kind of statistics Jeremy will produce in '09.

OH WR Jerald Robinson

Robinson will play both ways for Canton South. Will he make a bigger impact at wide receiver or safety?

OH WR DJ Williamson

Williamson hasn't put up impressive numbers yet in his high school career. However, he has track star speed, and has one more year to impress onlookers.

LA Slot Drew Dileo

Dileo's Parkview Baptist team should be strong as always, and Dileo should perform well. He was the team's MVP last year.

OH OL Christian Pace

Pace helped Avon Lake run over opponents last year (to the tune of 200+ yards per game on the ground), and looks to repeat that performance in 2009. The Shoremen are the #8 team in Northeast Ohio heading into the 2009 season.

OH DT Terry Talbott

Talbott plays defensive tackle for Huber Heights, making statistics pretty hard to find for him. Huber Heights should field a pretty good team this year, though.

PA DE Jordan Paskorz

Paskorz is one of the lower-rated kids in Michigan's '10 class. He'll have his chance to prove the doubters wrong as a senior.

OH LB Antonio Kinard

Kinard played with current Wolverines Fitzgerald Toussaint and Isaiah Bell last year. Will he have a good year without them by his side? Kinard returned one fumble 92 yards for a touchdown, and had one 54-yard touchdown run and another for 70+ yards last year. Other information on him is difficult to find.

PA DE Ken Wilkins

Wilkins scored touchdowns on a 55-yard fumble return and a 26-yard blocked punt last year.

FL S Marvin Robinson

Robinson has played both safety and running back for Lake Region. He's been named Preseason 2nd-Team All-State.

OH CB Courtney Avery

Avery is primarily a roboQB for Lexington, though he was also an all-state cornerback last year. Michigan fans are likely more interested in his defensive exploits.

OH CB Terrence Talbott

Talbott is a pure corner for Wayne, who looks to have a big year with a number of junior and senior D-1 prospects.

Apologies for the inconsistent formatting. It will hopefully be much better during the course of the current season.

And fin. Wolverine Historian's expanded versions of 1997 games have hit that year's Rose Bowl; this one is a three-parter and it's gooooood:

Part Two and Part Three are lightboxed for your viewing pleasure. Part Three gets a little misty.

Odds. I've seen the line for Michigan's game against Western at anywhere between 8 and 13 points, but it appears it's settled at Michigan –12. This is good. Phil Steele's published a useful list of spreads and their correspondence to victory and a spread as big as that one is tough to overcome:

It would be nice to start the year off with one of those win things for a change.

Don't Messner with Texas. MVictors has posted an interview with Wolverine great Mark Messner; I celebrate by craft the worst bolded introductory phrase in the history of Unverified Voracity. The section Greg excerpts is mostly on Michigan State, Tony Mandarich, and steroids. It comes with some outstanding stories:

He did get me once and that’s when I realized that there was something strange going on with this man, because no man should ever do that.  It was my junior year.  We were watching film getting ready for Michigan State and I was like, “Look at this thing! He’s destroying people.” In that game I got out of position and he got underneath me. He picked me up off my feet and ran with me for fifteen yards with my feet just dangling. He threw me like a rag doll into the Michigan State bench.

More at the link.

Was anybody healthy? Anybody? This offseason's seen a bevy of injury revelations from Mike Shaw's sports hernia to Donovan Warren's bone chips to Jonas Mouton's shoulder. We already knew Brandon Minor had some wrist issues, but I don't think we knew they were this severe:

Minor underwent two surgeries in the offseason and gutted through 11 games last fall a virtual one-armed man. The pain was so intense he couldn't carry the ball in his right arm and couldn't lift weights.

“I could barely get 145 (pounds) up,” Minor said.

This might explain Minor's sparing use early in the year, and his tendency to put the ball on the turf. Place your bets for the next starter to reveal a crippling 2008 injury. I've got Obi Ezeh with the peg leg in the kitchen.

Hey, what's that: bird, plane, basketball program? Michigan's going to have a Midnight Madness event for the first time… ever? Probably ever. John Beilein probably isn't going rappel from the rafters riding a horse and a motorcycle, but it should be cool anyway. Details:

To kick off the 2009-10 season, both the men's and women's basketball teams will be participating in Michigan Madness on Friday, Oct. 16, the first day of practice allowed by the NCAA. Crisler Arena doors will open at 8 p.m. and admission is free.

The official basketball program will begin at 9 p.m. with player introductions. A skills competition and scrimmages will follow, allowing students and fans to get a first glimpse of the season's upcoming teams.

That's right: Michigan's midnight madness is at 9PM. Which okay. I don't know if we're at the point where we can expect anyone to show up well past their bedtime.

If you spin any faster you might drill straight into the magma. It's getting tough out there for BCS schools looking for suitable tomato cans to whack, as Michigan's home-and-home with UConn demonstrates. Heck, UConn has Tennessee lined up for a home and home, too. Further evidence:

Billed as the Celebrate the State Football Series, Michigan State will play 12 games against the directional Michigan schools during the next 10 years.

The agreement includes road contests against each MAC team, beginning in 2012 with a trip to Central Michigan. The Spartans have never visited Central Michigan or Western Michigan and last played a MAC team on the road in 1899.

Ouch. I guess if you have to line up road games (three of them!) against MAC schools it's nice to be able to turn it into yet more meaningless PR about owning the state. I mean… even if you successfully own the state, then what? Then you have a team that goes 7-5 on average instead of Michigan State's historical long-term 6-6. Woo! Michigan isn't Florida.

Etc.: Those who hate key jinglers are going to double hate towels. Michigan Stadium makes the next cut in the USA's World Cup bid. (Note to guy who posted this on the messageboard: AAAARGH it's on topic. It's about Michigan Stadium.) And this is apropos of little but there's a team named "Trollhattan" in the second level of Swedish soccer. There's a terribly funny joke about the internet in there somewhere.

Notes from today's press conference:

• Though there have been more explosive plays from the offense in camp this year, Rodriguez said it's not necessarily because the defense has been subpar. The offensive players in camp this year have better skill sets as a group than last year's, and the execution has improved with another year in the system. It's hard to tell if big offense plays mean offense == good or defense == bad, but when they go back and look at film, they can decide whether the defensive player was playing his assignment and was beaten by a good offensive play, or if there was a blown assignment.
• In case you were doubting that Rodriguez is pretty hands-off with the defense (last year's Purdue game notwithstanding), he said he's not quite sure exactly what the defense is doing. They're teaching well, and on track to where they should be. He won't concern himself too much with the defensive side of the ball until it's time to start drawing up gameplans.
• The first group on the defense is pretty good, but they are just a couple injuries away from having a scary lack of depth.

And from the practice session:

• Last year Brian said something along the lines of "this team can only execute one new thing per game, and when the offense is fully installed, it could be pretty dangerous." This was obvious itself (what with West Virginia being 5th and 15th in total offense nationally in his last two years there, and dropping to 59th with the same talent in the first year he was gone), but there was so much evidence of this going on today. There were tons of looks that weren't even hinted at last year: Tight end lined up as an H-Back, jet motion from slots, misdirection and slots being involved in the option game as pitchmen, even a little bit of pistol. Once the offense has the full playbook at its disposal, you'll see one of the more creative offenses out there (thankfully, as this was something I didn't think was necessarily coming).
• Martavious Odoms was out (red jersey) with headaches, Mathews wore a green jersey for the first half of practice, it looked like Moundros(?) was also in a green jersey, and Barnum is still out with the same ankle injury.
• Same old story with how players look: Denard is getting good velocity on the ball, though he has a bit of accuracy work to do, Kelvin Grady looks pretty good catching the ball and moving with it after the catch, Terrence Robinson dropped a couple of passes.

And your photo gallery:

It's a funny hat. The second funniest thing about Celebrity Jeopardy is that it's so, so true. (The first is Norm Macdonald.) Celebrity anything is so, so true. I was just watching the bit of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire where they bring out a celebrity* and Winona Judd was asked "if you have three shirts and four pairs of pants, how many outfits can you make." The answers were "goat," "Saturn," "i," and IT'S TWELVE YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME but she sat there, flummoxed, until Regis punched her in the face and deposited eggs in her stomach in the manner of all Notre Dame graduates looking to reproduce.

I thought that was a spectacular dumb celebrity event, but then Patricia Heaton showed up and showed us all what spectacular truly was:

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN. She got racuous applause for multiplying because everyone felt terrible about her education. At Ohio State. And she still doubled the GNP of Sierra Leone. 

*(This was not my executive decision, for the record. I only watch Golden Girls marathons.)