No. 2 Michigan Thumps Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Michigan, February 9. THE No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's swimming and diving team won 14 of 16 events and set seven McCaffree Pool records to defeat in-state rival Michigan State, 168-61, on Saturday (Feb. 9).

The first record to fall came in the meet's opening race, as the Wolverines' quartet of senior Sean Fletcher (Vienna, Va./James Madison), sophomore Richard Funk (Edmonton, Alberta/Strathcona), senior Miguel Ortiz (Tokyo, Japan/St. Mary's International) and sophomore Bruno Ortiz (Tokyo, Japan/St. Mary's International) won the 200-yard medley relay (1:29.74). Miguel Ortiz and Funk followed up their relay performances with record-setting wins in the races to follow, first by Ortiz in the 100-yard backstroke (47.48) and then by Funk in the 100-yard breaststroke (54.51).

Three more Michigan swimmers set records in the second half of the meet, but the performance of the afternoon belonged to mid-year enrollee and Danish import Anders Lie Nielsen (Vanloese, Denmark). Lie Nielsen won the 500-yard freestyle (4:22.23) in convincing fashion, beating the field by nearly 15 seconds and shattering the pool record held by former Michigan standout Tom Dolan (4:25.12), a mark that stood for 18 years. Lie Nielsen also finished second in the 200-yard butterfly (1:50.07.).

The two other Wolverines to break records in individual races were both juniors: John Wojciechowski (Scottsdale, Ariz./Phoenix Brophy Prep) in the 100-yard butterfly (47.69) and junior Kyle Whitaker (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) in the 200-yard individual medley (1:47.85). The seventh and final record to fall on Saturday came in the meet's final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay. The senior-driven team of Zachary Turk (Akron, Ohio/St. Edwards), Miguel Ortiz, Fletcher and Evan Gregg (Blacksburg, Va./Blacksburg) touched the wall first at 1:21.21. Ortiz, in particular, had a blistering fast split of 19.69 during the second leg of the relay.

Other individual winners included freshman Dylan Bosch (Johannesburg, South Africa/Crawford College, Sandton) in the 400-yard individual medley (3:54.79), freshman Peter Brumm (Cornelius, N.C./Hough) in the 200-yard freestyle (1:38.89), B. Ortiz in the 50-yard freestyle (20.95), sophomore Justin Glanda (Rochester Hills, Mich./Cranbrook Kingswood) in the 100-yard freestyle (45.71) and junior Kyle Duckitt (Johannesburg, South Africa/St. John's College) in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:02.30).

Junior Jack Lee (North Egremont, Mass./The Berkshire School) swept both diving boards for the second consecutive week, finishing first on one-meter (357.60) and three-meter (367.12).

Michigan has one more meet until the Big Ten Championships, hosting the Michigan First Chance Meet next Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 16-17) at Canham Natatorium. Select members of the Wolverines will swim in the meet, with preliminaries scheduled to start at noon and finals at 4 p.m. each day.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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