Men's Swimming: B1G Championships, Canham Natatorium
Taking full advantage of the home pool, the men's swim team won both the 200yd medley relay and the 800yd free relay last night to jump out to a lead that will only be massively extended today when the 500yd free is held.
The 800yd FR team set an NCAA (and US open) record with a blistering 6:09.85. The record is not an American record because one of the guys is Danish, but it is still the fastest 800yd FR swum on American soil.
The 500yd free today is an event that could possibly see five or six Wolverines in the final.
GO BLUE!!
Edit: because I cannot right good
February 27th, 2014 at 11:26 AM ^
TOTAL DOMINATION
February 27th, 2014 at 11:32 AM ^
if the entire team is shaved and fully tapered or are any of them saving it for NCAAs?
February 27th, 2014 at 11:35 AM ^
Typically Michigan tapers for the NCAAs, not the Big Tens. That said, setting an NCAA record without being tapered is wild.
February 27th, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^
and that's why I was asking. Those records NOT tapered? Holy crap.
Some kids can handle double tapers, some can't. The distance guys can have a slower taper, but those whimpy sprinters...I tell ya. They're practice consisted of dipping their toe in the water back in my day.
February 27th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
I was a sprinter, and I could not handle more than one taper within four months, as sad as that sounds. And yes, our taper practices were literally getting wet, practicing starts, turns and relay starts and then going back to our special sprinter hole.
February 27th, 2014 at 12:12 PM ^
for being a good sport..of course I was kidding, but it was disheartening doing a longer more difficult taper as a mile swimmer.
But yeah, I was typically a one-taper type as well...by the time I was in college, I wasn't going to threaten the NCAAs. Conference championships was my last meet typically, except one year I went to Senior Nationals where I, surprise surprise, double tapered very poorly.
February 27th, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
Damn - that 800 free relay time is blistering. Texas was the previous NCAA record holder. Nice to have Michigan hold another record.
February 27th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ^
Wynalda's split was a 1:30 something...ridiculous
February 27th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
Yeah that's gross.
EDIT: Connor Jaeger had the next fastest split among everyone else who swam, and his was 2 seconds slower. The crazy thing is there were ahead by so much at the end, Jaeger swam his entire leg by himself. What could they have clocked with a little competition?
February 27th, 2014 at 12:23 PM ^
Who knows? I predict a 6:06 at NCAA's.
February 27th, 2014 at 7:35 PM ^
1:30?!? I cannot even fathom that kind of speed. That is just lolwtf fast. So is 1:32 for that matter.
February 27th, 2014 at 11:50 AM ^
Hell yeah!!
February 27th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
February 27th, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^
Tapering is reducing practice workload so your body is rested for a big meet. The duel meet season is full of pretty tired swimmers, busting their ass seven days a week in the pool or weight room, and so we reduce workload in advance of big meets (like B1G or NCAA's - not that I swam in those) to rest the body and store energy.
We literally went from about 8000 yds a day (and weights) to 1000 yds a day (no weights) over a few weeks. I was ready to explode once we got to the big meet. Add a full shave, and you are unstoppable, it seemed.
February 27th, 2014 at 12:14 PM ^
February 27th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
Good God - 12 seconds!! I dropped about a 1.5 seconds off my 100 free, and a little less in my 100 fly and back. I dropped about .6 off my 50, which was substantial.
February 27th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
That's a good taper in the 500 : ) Must have been the technical suit and the body shave : )
February 27th, 2014 at 2:18 PM ^
February 27th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^
is HEAVEN!
Imagine being tired for an entire 6-8 months and THEN finally getting a whole week's worth of good night's sleep...the energy you'd feel.
February 27th, 2014 at 3:43 PM ^
As mentioned above, taper is a gradual reduction yardage, typically done over a month or two leading into the biggest meet of the season. In my experience in sprint/mid-distance, however, the shorter distance is accompanied by an increase in intensity. Aerobic workouts to build endurance are replaced by short bursts of exertion to increase the strength of the muscles and explosiveness of your movements. It also affords a lot of time to work on very specific technique work (i.e. turns, starts, breakouts).
As you might guess by reading that, taper is not the same for distance swimmers, who must maintain the aerobic endurance to compete in their events. Their end of season is more like a rest than an true taper.
February 27th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
Any idea how the divers are doing?
February 27th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^
UM just killed it. 5 guys in the A finals!
February 27th, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^
I was never good enough to do that. District/Confernce Championships were it for me as State/Div 3 Nationals were not a happenin' thing. Interestingly, the U.S. Olympic Trials are routinely very close to the Games, i.e. you HAVE to double taper, or you don't make the U.S. Olympic Team. However, U.S. swimmers routinely kill it in the Olympics, so it seems to me that at the highest level of swimming, double tapering well is a pre-requisite.
BTW and completely off topic, I am the only one that thinks the Div 3 National A cuts are completely insane? Shoot, they're about as fast as the Olympic Trial cuts. (Someone noted earlier in the season that for the first time, the Div 3 A cut is FASTER than the Div 1 B cut in many events.)
BTW2, I am unspeakably happy to be talking swimming and diving in a Michigan sports web site. Many up votes to Wolverine in Iowa. Last year, the men won a National Championship, and not a peep out of the Michigan community on the web.
February 27th, 2014 at 8:10 PM ^
February 27th, 2014 at 8:59 PM ^
MGoBlog had a good thread about the NCAA championship last year.
February 27th, 2014 at 7:32 PM ^
February 27th, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^
How many in this thread are Michigan swim alums?
/raises hand
February 27th, 2014 at 9:01 PM ^
Not I - I swam on a US Swimming team and for my high school, but I was not Michigan caliber. Mike Barrowman used to destroy me in club swimming.
February 27th, 2014 at 7:46 PM ^
February 27th, 2014 at 8:19 PM ^
Wolverines close out with a nice win in the 400yd medley.
After day 2, Michigan still leads the B1G Championships with 308 points.
The next closest team is indiana at 216 points.
Halfway there.
February 28th, 2014 at 9:33 AM ^
The podium for the 500 free was quite blue - six Wolverines.1-2-3-5-7-8. We dominate distance swimming, no two ways about it.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:46 PM ^
Bruno had an 18.97 split in the 200 FR...