Sophomore-to-be Miranda Tucker, who last season was part of the best breaststroke duo in the country (and one of the best breaststroke duos ever) at Indiana, will transfer to Big Ten rivals the University of Michigan in the fall.
Tucker was 3rd at NCAAs last year in the 100 breaststroke (58.10) and 2nd in the 200 breaststroke (2:06.27), in both cases finishing behind her teammate and NCAA Champion Lilly King.
“I’m very excited for what the future holds!” Tucker told SwimSwam of her move.
Tucker says that she is still working to determine whether she will be immediately eligible or not, given the intra-conference nature of the transfer.
What was most astonishing about the duo is that both were only freshmen last season, meaning that despite Tucker’s departure, the twos battles are far from over.
She joins a breaststroke group at Michigan that didn’t score any points at NCAAs, but is very young and had a big impact at Big Tens. That includes rising junior Emily Kopas, who was in A-finals at Big Tens in both the 100 and 200 yard breaststrokes.
Still, Tucker provides a big and immediate relay improvement, in the least at Michigan – as compared to Indiana, where she would’ve had to pull past the American Record holder King to ever get a shot at those relays. At NCAAs last year, Michigan got a 1:00.4 on their 400 medley and a 27.6 on their 200 medley at NCAAs, and they finished 17th and out of the points in both races. Tucker’s bests would push both relays into A-final range when joined by Tucker.
Tucker’s third event at NCAAs last season was the 200 IM, where she tied for 27th in 1:57.71.
Tucker left Indiana in May, at the end of the academic year, and has been training with Club Wolverine all summer. Her highest finish at the Olympic Trials was 8th, with a peak of 1:07.60 in the semi-finals.
Originally from Livonia, Michigan, Tucker is a former Junior National Team member. Livonia is only about a 30 minute drive from Ann Arbor: home to the University of Michigan.
Anyone considering that the University of Michigan’s stellar academics and in state tuition are factors here?
She had a full ride
It could be possible she didn’t meet the standards academically for the full ride.
Ahh I see she is from Michigan, but people seem to think she may need that “top dog” status?
Maybe her high school boyfriend went to Ann Arbor? All sorts of possible explanations that are nothing more than shots in the dark unless we hear from someone (Miranda?) actually in the know.
Or maybe her high school girlfriend. Why is everyone so narrow minded. Some girls like girls.
I think she didn’t have the meet she expected at trials.
She trained with Club Wolverine all summer leading up to Trials
She would have had to get a release from iu before training with cw so not all summer since we know releases take time… she did well considering she probably didn’t have training about 3 weeks to 5 weeks going into trials if she left in may that wouldn’t have been a lot of time to get released to train
wow. Mich. now is stacked with breastrokers. With the in comming class and the current roster. Thats nice pickings
I called it! When swimswam covered NCAA’s this past spring, I commented after the completion of the meet. I pointed out that being second to Lily King would be a burden to Miranda and that she might flirt with the idea of transferring; and I got blasted by everyone! And here we are talking about it! I wish her well, but this is actually no surprise for those that know her. Look at her club team experience. She has been on “numerous” club teams and is a puddle jumper for sure. Let’s see how she does in AA with Bottom. King vs Tucker 2017!!!
Went from a y team with 7 swimmers to a Plymouth- canton team. Left that team to go to Livonia community, then off to college. Wow. Puddle jumping! Can’t really count the y team as they disbanded several years ago.
Tucker was on Plymouth-Canton Cruisers for 6 years before moving to Livonia Community. If the 7-member Y team doesnt count then is it really considered puddle jumping if she technically was on two teams over the course of eight years, not including college?
Steve, not a rivalry! they were probably close if they were roomies. I used to swim on her team. Tucker kinda just does her own thing and isn’t super competitive with teammates or focused on other people when she swims. She focuses on her and what she’s doing for herself. She doesn’t say mean things, get jealous, or any of it. I admire her sportsmanship and friendliness!
What everyone has to remember is that transferring (or a college decision in general) isn’t always just a swimming decision. Sure it probably played a part, but we don’t know the whole story. I wish her the best of luck, she’s always been a pleasure to see and chat with at meets.
Well said!
Weren’t her and King roommates as well?