Check out the highlight reel above, produced by former professional swimmer Bobby Savulich. Bobby is the visionary behind such events as the Pro Duel Meet 1 and most recently Athlete Approved. Athlete Approved is a multi-faceted attack toward trying to bring professional swimming into the modern world by providing athletes the opportunity to make a living in the pool. For more on Athlete Approved, check out their Twitter or Facebook pages. To read more about Athlete Approved, check out their website.
In front of a packed house at the Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Michigan Wolverines, Minnesota Golden Gophers, and Oakland Golden Grizzlies participated in the first ever Water Carnival event. Based on early returns from this first event, it may not be the last, either.
The dance team was there, the band was there, the women’s water polo team was there, and there was even a guy who rode a bike off of the 10-meter platform.
And oh yeah: there was swimming as well in this event that was designed as a swimming exhibition of sorts, with opportunities for athletes to really show off their incredible athleticism to an audience that wasn’t necessarily 100% familiar with a typical college dual meet.
In some of the more notable results, Kyle Whitaker kicked a 50 underwater in 17.27 seconds with fins on. That’s at least three seconds faster than he would be this time of year in a normal 50 freestyle.
Senior Evan Gregg, who has the opportunity to be a huge X-factor for the Michigan sprint relays this season, won the 50 free with fins in 18.33, topping Minnesota’s Ben Griggs, who was 2nd in 18.66.
Griggs anchored the Minneosta 500 yard free relay (swum as a 200/150/100/50) with a finless 20.33, as they pulled off somewhat of an upset over Michigan’s group. The Gophers finished in 4:05.35 ahead of 4:06.60.
Settling the score in a Twitter-fueled battle that has raged for weeks, Canadian Richard Funk bettered his Michigan teammate Kyle Duckitt in the 50 breaststroke with a flip-turn by a result of 24.74-25.02. Both men were (strangely) silent afterward on their social media accounts, letting the swimming speak for itself. Bruno Ortiz almost upended the whole thing, touching 3rd in 25.05.
Oh man, get Zingerman’s to cater the refreshments and I’d travel back to Michigan just for this. Fun idea!
Love the cheerleaders and the band at the meet! If you make swimming fun people will attend! So many times it seems our athletes are afraid to promote their sport… We shouldn’t have to take a backseat to anyone. Thank you Michigan Swimming for thinking outside the norm.
While I appreciate the willingness to bring interest to the sport, we must also think about safety. The athletes who kicked a 50 underwater are promoting an unsafe practice in swimming. Those watching may try to emulate and unfortunately could suffer from a shallow water blackout and have devastating consequences. I hope that the Water Carnival continues but I do hope they look at the events they are choosing and how they will impact those participating and watching.
Carrie – I think your concerns are not unwarranted, however a few thoughts:
1) So long as they were not practicing hyperventilation prior to their races (one would imagine they have been well instructed in such, given the presence of trained free-diver George Bovell with the program last year), it’s unlikely that 18 seconds would cause shallow water blackout.
2) There are often things done by pro athletes that young athletes should not mimic for safety reasons. Things like throwing curveballs. Certainly, though, the audience should probably be warned that such activities would carry a high level of risk for, say, an athlete who would take 30 or 40 seconds to cover the same distance.
We will be sure… Read more »
Really? While i agree that it could have negative concequences, we need to have faith in coaches and lifeguards to protect from an incedent as you describe. I believe that having a 50m underwater event will be a very good thing for swimming. We’ve craved this event since the berkoff blastoff began.
Even now with the fastest people in the world going 15m uw in 200m events, the things that they are doing, which could also be extremely dangerous to inexperienced swimmers, could still potentially cause kids to emulate and eventually be negaitvely affected by these swims. As a society we need to kind of let off the brakes a little and accept ideas that, in some rare cases,… Read more »
Why aren’t the women’s results posted?
50 yards under 18 is no a big deal. 50 meters its something.
Did I see a guy ride a bicycle off a 10m diving platform? What could go wrong with this? Were the lifeguards taking a break?
Collegiate teams did similar activities back in the 30, 40, and 50’s in the last century.
any idea what types of fins were used/if swimmers were allowed to choose whichever fins they wanted, or was there a standard fin for all competitors?
Swimmers were able to choose. The majority wore DMC: http://athleteapproved.com/product/dmc-swim-fins