Feb. 15, 2007
Championships Central
Some of the nation's top aquatic talent will converge upon the Ohio State University campus and the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion this weekend at the Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. Few collegiate swim meets are filled with as much talent as the Big Ten Championships, and this year is no exception. During the regular season, many Big Ten swimmers have posted times that are among the nation's best, and more national qualifying times are sure to be set this weekend when the Men's Swimming and Diving Championships are hosted by Ohio State University. The event will feature six teams (No. 6 Northwestern, No. 10 Minnesota, No. 11 Indiana, No. 12 Michigan, No. 13 Ohio State and No. 18 Purdue) ranked in the latest CSCAA Top 25 and one more (Wisconsin) that is receiving votes outside the poll. This year's field is as strong as ever, and will again prove to be one of the marquee swimming events in the country with a field that has posted over 56 times that qualify at least provisionally for the NCAA Championships.
The event, originally scheduled to begin on Thursday, Feb. 15, will now start one day later on Friday, Feb. 16, after severe weather in the Midwest caused many travel difficulties for the teams.
The Indiana Hoosiers claimed their first championship in 21 years in their home pool last year, and are looking for their first back-to-back conference crowns since 1984-85. They will hope to do it with four-time Diver of the Week, Taylor Roberts, last year's winner off the three-meter board, while the Northwestern Wildcats lead the league behind all-around swimming sensation Matt Grevers.
Freestyle
Once again, the freestyle events will be some of the most anticipated races of the championship. Grevers, a 21-time All-American, leads some of the most talented swimmers in the country. The reigning Big Ten Co-Swimmer of the Year will look to close out his career with a gold-medal sweep of the 50-yard freestyle. Grevers, who has won the 2005 NCAA title in the event, has never lost on the Big Ten's grandest stage. In 2005, he posted a conference championships record time of 19.35, and his best time this season (19.82) ranks 12th nationally and is good enough for provisional qualification to the national meet.
The Wildcat senior will also be aiming for his second-straight 100-yard freestyle crown and first-ever in the 200. With the graduation of Michigan freestyle phenom Peter Vanderkaay, the event is wide open, and Grevers boasts the best time in the nation with a 1:34.21 performance that is an A-standard qualification for the NCAA Championships. Anchoring Northwestern's efforts in the freestyle sprints is Grevers' teammate Kyle Bubolz, who finished close behind him in the 50- and 100-yard events last year. Minnesota's Igor Cerensek will also be a danger to Grevers' dominance after medaling in both the 50 and 100 last year.
In the 200, the Wildcats' Eric Nilsson owns a B-standard time of 1:36.75 that ranks second in the conference. After watching Vanderkaay rack up his fourth-straight gold in the 500 at last year's championships, Nilsson has a prime opportunity to take over the title as he leads the Big Ten in the 500 with a provisional qualifying time of 4:20.84. Ohio State's George Markovic (4:24.22) and last year's bronze medalist Matt Patton (4:24.47) of Michigan are the only other conference swimmers who already meet NCAA qualifying standards in the event.
Patton also holds the time-to-beat in the 1650 free with a B-standard performance of 15:07.37 that stands among the top five times in the nation. Markovic and his Buckeye teammate Mark Neiman both rank in the top 15 and have posted provisional qualifying times, as well, while five other Big Ten swimmers are among the 25 best in the country.
Northwestern opened the 2005 championships by winning the 200-yard freestyle relay championship with the third-best time in Big Ten history. This year, Grevers anchors a team of Mike Alexandrov, Kyle Bubolz and Bruno Barbic that leads the conference and is sixth nationally with a provisional qualifying time of 1:19.72. The crew also boasts the nation's third-fastest time in the 400-yard relay, but reigning Big Ten champion Minnesota returns a relay crew now far behind. The Gophers' team ranks sixth in the 200-yard event and third with another provisional qualifying time (2:56.79) in the 400.
Another one of the Wildcats' most dominant swimmers in school history, Mike Alexandrov joins the unit for the 800-yard freestyle relay team that paces the nation with a Northwestern-record time of 6:26.17. Minnesota, led by Cerensek, posted the nation's fourth-fastest time in December. Ohio State also ranks among the nation's best with an 11th-ranked time of 6:36.78 that is also an NCAA B-standard time.
Individual Medleys
The 200-yard individual medley, a true test of a swimmer's versatility, will likely be a battle for the top spot between Grevers and Alexandrov. The Wildcat pair ranks in the nation's top six, while Grevers has set the Big Ten standard with an NCAA qualifying performance of 1:45.12. Alexandrov, who garnered bronze in last year's conference meet, owns a B-standard time of 1:47.13. The defending champion of the 400-yard individual medley, Alex Vanderkaay will also be a factor in the 200 after a runner-up finish in 2006. He posted a provisional qualifying time of 3:52.94 in December, while Alexandrov leads the conference with a B-standard time of his own (3:50.18).
Medley Relays
The top butterfliers, backstrokers, breaststrokers and freestylists from each school will compete in a very talented field in the medley relays. After losing to Indiana by less than 0.2 seconds last season, Northwestern enters this year's meet with one of the best times in the country to its credit, a B-standard time of 1:26.97. Minnesota will look to better its bronze medal finish from a year ago after posting the fifth-fastest time in the nation (1:27.64) in December. The Hoosiers, who round out the nation's top 10, will try to defend their title in the event and hold a season-best time of 1:29.20.
The 400-yard version of the event will be just as competitive, but the Wildcats look poised for their fourth-straight victory in the 400-yard IM relay with Grevers, Alexandrov and Bubolz leading the way. The group's season-best time of 3:10.87 is the second-fastest in the country and earned them an A-standard ticket to the NCAA Championships, while the Gophers' top-5 time of 3:13.79 was good for a B-standard qualification.
Butterfly
A two-time Big Ten champion in the 100-yard butterfly, Bubolz reset the conference standard - a record he first rewrote as a freshman - with an astounding time of 46.40 at last year's championships. Again he has the time to beat, boasting the second-fastest swim in the nation with an A-standard performance of 46.76 to lead the league.
His teammate Grevers is the only other Big Ten swimmer to have met the A-standard in the event, with a season-best 46.96. Ohio State's Joseph Doyle and Wisconsin's Scott Rice are not far behind the Wildcat duo with B-standard times. IN the 200-yard version, Rice posted a top-5 time of 1:45.80 in December that leads the Big Ten. He and Nilsson both own provisional qualifying times in the event, while Vanderkaay will look to qualify for NCAAs and improve on this runner-up finish from last year.
Breaststroke
Northwestern's Alexandrov stars in the medley events, but specializes in the breaststroke. This season, the defending 200-yard champion and 100-yard silver-medalist has garnered nation-leading A-standard time in both events. His 53.01 time in the 100 is more than 1.5 faster than the Minnesota's Collin Lee-To, who finished seventh in the 2006 meet and has qualified provisionally for the NCAA meet. In the 200, Ohio State's Daniel Malnik, Indiana's Pat Penoyar and Michigan's Scott Spann have also met B-standard marks in the event.
Backstroke
Grevers may be a freestyle fiend, but he is the king of the backstroke. The only Wildcat to earn two consecutive NCAA titles since Bill Heusner's 1,500-meter freestyle wins in 1948 and 1949, Greevers earned his second national crown in 2006. He owns the top two times in Big Ten history, and will look to nab his fourth straight title in the conference meet. Currently he ranks third in the nation with an A-standard time of 46.82 in the 100-yard event. The 200-yard edition is more Grevers domination. His season-best time of 1:40.66 is tops in the country and nearly four seconds faster than the rest of the Big Ten's talented field. Minnesota's David Plummer and Russ Payne also own B-standard times, along with Indiana's Ben Hesen and Wisconsin's Mike Hopkins - all four rank among the top 25 in the country.
Diving
Along with Roberts, the Hoosiers look for more diving dominance. In their title win last year, the Crimson and Cream had four swimmers place in both the three-meter and platform events while Roberts and Brian Mariano took home the respective crowns. This year, all five IU divers - Will Bohonyi, David Legler, David Piercy, Justin Montrie and Roberts - have surpassed NCAA Zone diving standards this year.
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