2017 MEN’S B1G SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, February 22th to Saturday, February 25th
- Where: Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
- Defending Champion: Michigan Wolverines (results)
- New Champion: Indiana Hoosiers (results)
While the Michigan men had their winning streak snapped by Indiana at the 2017 Big Ten Championships, the Wolverines’ future looks bright based on the performance of their freshman class. The 9 freshman scorers combined for 423 points, 413 of which came from the swimmers.
One of the most impressive performers was Felix Auboeck, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Auboeck took down Peter Vanderkaay B1g Meet Record, winning the event in 4:10.63. He then went on to win the mile in 14:29.25, making him the 10th fastest performer ever in the event and the fastest freshman ever. Auboeck also won a bronze medal in the 200 free (1:33.27).
Also bringing home a Big Ten title in his first NCAA season was Charlie Swanson, who won the 400 IM in 3:41.13. Fellow freshman Jacob Montague was a 2-time medalist, taking silver in the 100 breast (52.08) and bronze in the 200 breast (1:53.33).
Michigan Freshman Class Scoring Breakdown:
| Swimmer | Events | Points Total |
| Felix Auboeck | 500 FR (1st), 200 FR (3rd), 1650 FR (1st) | 91 |
| Jacob Montague | 200 IM (5th), 100 BR (2nd), 200 BR (3rd) | 80 |
| Charlie Swanson | 200 IM (10th), 400 IM (1st), 200 BR (8th) | 71 |
| Miles Smachlo | 200 IM (18th), 100 FL (6th), 200 FL (4th) | 57 |
| Tommy Cope | 200 IM (12th), 100 BR (18th), 200 BR (10th) | 39 |
| James Jones | 50 FR (36th), 100 FL (9th), 100 FR (10th) | 37 |
| Robert Zofchak | 200 IM (21st), 100 BK (19th), 200 BK (12th) | 25 |
| Jeremy Babinet | 200 IM (34th), 100 BR (14th), 200 BR (31st) | 13 |
| Jake Herremans | 1m (25th), 3m (21st), Platform (19th) | 10 |
According to my calculations, contributions from each class are counted toward the point total of the meet. Go Hoosiers?
I’m going to be a devil advocate here….
Michigan freshmen scored this much, what in the heck are the upperclassmen doing? Are they not developing the upper class men like they should?
Team like Cal, Texas, UF, NC State, UGA, and Indiana are led by Juniors and Seniors while still having a great contribution by the freshman class.
“He then went on to win the mile in 14:29.25, making him the 10th fastest performer ever in the event and the fastest freshman ever.”
11th fastest performer ever
Don’t forget about my 14:29.05 earlier this week ?
Michigan’s freshman could compete with Iowa and only loose by 1 point!
They would beat teams 8, 9, 10.
Quite a shame the gap between the top tier teams and the bottom is so large.
Lmfao, as a fellow Hawkeye, I agree. The programs needs a complete overhall. Get the goon squad of Marc and Frannie the F*** out of their. Talk about killing careers.
Yes – you would think a facility & relatively good academics like Iowa has would be competitive in any conference. How does Mr. Long have a job? His womens team swam poorly (to be kind) at Big 10 & his men were a step up from bad (a few good swims). If you look at the talent he get’s and how they get worse over their career… one would think they are complaining to the AD? Don’t they deserve better?
Have you really looked at the progression of Iowa Swimmers? The majority have had nice time drops. They’re just not quite competing with the top Of the Big Ten. With some diving points they’d be right with PSU and Purdue.
Yes with a majority of them improving Iowa is competitive with the bottom of the conference. With dismal diving points they will continue to place in the last quarter. I’m sure it’s very frustrating for those on the team to see no improvement at the BigTen level year in and year out.
The point is Michigan brings in “freshmen” who are grown men 20 plus years of age.
He was 19 when he started school at UofM, which is not what I would call a “grown man”. Also, it is not ridiculous for somebody to take a year off after graduation to focus on something other than school. I’m not sure if that was the case for Felix because some European schooling systems go longer than the standard American system. If it was the case he took time off, be sure to criticize Katie Ledecky also!
He turned 20 three months after school started so yes he is more mature/ stronger than your typical freshman. Since men mature much later than girls it’s not fair to compare to KLedecky taking yr off.
While I think the obsession with Auboeck being 20 isn’t really warranted (though it is important to note that he’s older), Michigan still has an incredibly stacked freshman class. The point to take away here is the direction that Michigan will likely go (up!) with its freshman class.
Hemming and hawing about the legitimacy of someone who is still in his very first year at Michigan and under Mike Bottom shouldn’t detract from the impressive weekend by the Michigan rookies.
I see you’re very worked up over a 19-20 year old being a freshman instead of a sophomore. I understand, but that’s your opinion (although I will note it’s not any different than being a redshirt freshman)
That being said, please, for the love of God do not look at the D2 National meet results next month. Or, at least for our sakes, disable your keyboard after looking at them so we don’t hear your inevitable rant!
Its pretty common to see internationals as old as 23 or even 24 by the time they are seniors. You just have a problem with Michigan for some reason. This is not an issue. If you want to pick this fight, take it to division II. I swam D2 and when I was 18 years old I had to race a 29 year old in the 100 fly at our conference championships. They have gotten tighter on many rules but age is still a big factor in many of the top ranked d2 teams.
what is your point SUNY CAL….?
Auboeck is not your typical freshman. From Austria, I believe he was born in Dec.1996 which would make him 20 yrs old.
Omg..he’s really old. It’s about his four years of eligibility. They’re all kids. Lol☺