Heading into the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge meet this past weekend, the No. 11 Michigan men’s swimming and diving team set high expectations: achieving NCAA qualifying times in multiple relays, posting season-best times and breaking both an individual and relay school record.
The Wolverines accomplished just that against No. 9 Tennessee and No. 12 Virginia in their toughest competition of the season so far. Michigan was successful against Virginia with 24-20 and 37-19 wins, but fell short against Tennessee, 24-16 and 36-5, ending the meet in third place out of four highly-ranked teams. Yet through the tough competition, the Wolverines saw both individual and team success, especially from their younger stars.
The CSCAA Dual Meet was a differently organized competition than Michigan’s usual midseason meet — a bracket-style dual meet rather than a single competition between the four teams involved. In this foreign format, the focus for the Wolverines was adaptability.
“You’re not going to know what events you swim in, necessarily, until maybe a few hours before the meet,” Michigan coach Matt Bowe said. “And then, the way it happened, we made switches on the fly.”
Despite all the moving parts, Michigan was successful in its relays all weekend. The Wolverines kicked off the meet against the Volunteers on Friday with the 400 medley relay, winning the event in NCAA-qualifying time and coming up just short of a school record. Saturday against Virginia, they built upon that success, posting winning times in the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The next day, against the Cavaliers again, Michigan bested itself by one second in the 200 medley relay.
As it came time for individual events, Michigan’s talented youth excelled. The Wolverines’ top individual performer throughout the weekend was freshman Luka Mladenovic. He achieved the meet’s fastest 100 breaststroke with a time of 50.92 against Tennessee on Friday, swept the 200 breaststroke against Virginia on both Saturday and Sunday, and contributed to Michigan’s success in the 200 and 400 medley relays.
“He’s adapted to the training really well, and so for someone like him, we want him to be successful at the NCAA level,” Bowe said. “We’ve also got a longer term view for Luca, and part of that plan is, ‘How do we get him ready to be on the podium, to be a medalist in L.A. 2028, at the Olympic Games?’ ”
Mladenovic is not the only young Wolverines swimmer who rose to the occasion in Tennessee. Sophomore Lorne Wigginton showed his well-rounded speed in the 400 IM on Friday, with a two-second victory. Wigginton also won the 500 freestyle in both matchups against the Cavaliers, recording the meet’s fastest time of 4:14.50 on Saturday. Freshman Antoine Sauve followed up Wigginton’s successes with a strong performance of his own on Sunday against Virginia, earning a win in the 100 freestyle and an NCAA qualifying win in the 200 freestyle.
Although they went 2-2, Michigan — and especially their youth — found success in achieving the goals they set for themselves going into the meet.
“(Our main goal) is improvement on skills, details, things that we’ve been working on in practice,” Bowe said. “One thing I like is when you’re working on specific skills in practice, and then those athletes execute those skills in a race. That shows we’re getting somewhere, we’re making improvements.”
The CSCAA Dual Meet allowed the Wolverines to evaluate their progress midway through the season and demonstrate their improvement both individually and as a team. Through each event, the Wolverines’ young talent stood out among the best, helping the team close out the first half of their season on a strong note.
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