Michigan Intrasquad: Ackerman Goes 4IM School Record, Hunter Hits 51.8 100 BR

MICHIGAN NOV. 16 INTRASQUAD

• November 16, 2020
• Ann Arbor, MI
• Meet Mobile – ‘University of Michigan Tuesday Intrasquad’

Michigan held another intrasquad last Tuesday, the program’s third this fall.

Freshman Kathryn Ackerman continued to trek through a successful debut campaign. First, she swam a 28.62 medley relay breast split; with just one heat of the men’s relay to rest, she dove back in for the 200 free, where she clocked a 1:46.80, her first time under 1:47 and her first best in that event in almost two years.

Ackerman’s true show-stopping swim came in the 400 IM, though, where she knocked two seconds off of her best to finish in 4:05.58, a Michigan school record. That appears to be the #4 time in the country this season, and it’s by far the best freshman performance of the year so far. Last year, this time would’ve been good for #11 in the nation. The swim is four seconds better than any Wolverine went last year, and it upends Courtney Beidler’s 4:07.42 program mark from 2012.

Junior Mason Hunter made a clear statement as Michigan’s new top breaststroker by churning out lifetime bests in both breaststroke events.

In the 100 breast, Hunter was the only finisher under 53 seconds, ripping a 51.88 for the win. He returned in the 200 breast later in the afternoon, posting a 1:54.75, the only finisher under two minutes. In both events, Hunter went bests by at least four-tenths.

Hunter’s 100 breast was a very significant drop; at a First Chance meet at the end of his freshman season (2018-19), Hunter clocked a 52.77 for his first sub-53 performance. As a sophomore, he brought that down a bit, going 52.69 at the 2020 Big Ten Championships. This fall, though, he’s split 23.2 breast on the medley relay, and his 100 from last Tuesday took an eight-tenth chunk off of his time from the last Big Ten Champs.

His 52.69 old best just missed a 2020 NCAA invite last season by a couple tenths, but his new best (51.88) would’ve seeded him as a B-finalist at 14th on the psych sheets (one spot ahead of teammate Will Chan‘s 51.91). In the 200, his 1:54.75 is a four-tenth drop, his first best there since the 2019 First Chance meet where he first broke out. Last Tuesday, Hunter also split a 23.35 breast on the medley.

Sophomore Cam Peel nabbed two sprint wins, going 19.67 to take the 50 free and 43.59 to claim the 100 free. He was also 19.11 anchoring the medley and again broke 20 on the 200 free relay lead-off (19.88). On the other end of the distance spectrum, Sierra Schmidt took the 500 free (4:41.13) in a tight race over Kaitlynn Sims (4:42.10).

Club Wolverine swimmers and Michigan post-grads Gabby Deloof, Miles Smachlo and Charlie Swanson got some racing in last Tuesday, too. Deloof won the 200 free (1:45.35) and 100 free (49.30), while Smachlo raced the 100 back (49.62), 100 free (44.80) and 200 IM (1:49.28) and Swanson raced the 100 breast (53.80), 100 fly (49.95) and 200 IM (1:51.38).

OTHER NOTABLE SWIMS

• Freshman Noelle Kaufmann won the 100 fly in 54.13, just edging out her old best of 54.26.
• Junior Jared Daigle won both of his individual events, the 200 back (1:43.51) and 400 IM (3:48.28), going lifetime bests in both by just under a second each.
• Sophomore Mariella Venter won the 200 back in 1:55.28, just erasing her old best.
• On the end of the 200 medley relay, senior Daria Pyshnenko split a 22.25.
• A handful of Michigan’s top swimmers were absent from this meet: Maggie Macneil, Gus Borges, Olivia Carter and freshmen Wyatt Davis and Jake Mitchell. They’ve all raced at other meets this season, though. Distance star Ricardo Vargas was also missing, but he remains on the 2020-21 roster.