Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon, showing how committed Michigan is to next weekend’s Water Carnival, has dedicated his weekly editorial to the event: even in the midst of an intense Wolverine football season.
In his announcement, Brandon outlined more details about the event that will pit Michigan, Minnesota, and Oakland in an off-beat and unusual festival of aquatics designed to draw more fans into collegiate swimming.
- The dual meet the night before will be at 5 PM
- Admission is free
- It begins at noon local time, and is expected to last 2 hours
- There will be a 50-yard underwater dolphin-kick race
- 3 on 3 Water Polo Match
- 16×25 free relay
- 200-meter swim with fins
- Diving “show” (the word “show” builds the anticipation of something spectacular).
- U-M Fanfare Pep Band
- The Friars singing group
- Peter Vanderkaay meet-and-greet
- On-deck fan participation opportunities
Watching the three-on-three water polo match could be a special treat, as it will show off what incredible athletes the swimmers are. Perhaps we will even see an appearance from members of the Michigan women’s water polo team, the collegiate stomping ground of Team USA’s goalie Betsey Armstrong.
The amount of attention, resources, and hype being dumped into the meet by Michigan is really exciting to see. It’s the kind of attention that swimming needs to break the “swimming only matters twice a year, or once every four years” attitude.
