Jan. 28, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - No. 15 Northwestern hosts No. 9 Michigan Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Norris Aquatics Center in what will be the final home meet for seven Wildcat seniors. Chris Biedrzycki, Shelby Clark, Mark Hamming, Tommy Lockman, Steve Petric, Tony Swanson and Dan Williams will all enter the Northwestern pool for the final team in their respective careers as the Wildcats look to extend their dual meet winning streak to five.
Northwestern began the streak with a 129-111 victory over Michigan State on Jan. 16 and followed with a sweep of Eastern Michigan and Illinois-Chicago in a tri-dual the next day. A 155-133 win over Notre Dame on Saturday extended the Wildcats' streak to four.
Swanson has certainly made the most of his final few meets at the Norris Aquatics Center. In the win over the Irish, Swanson set a pool record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 47.67, besting former NU standout Kellan O'Connor's mark of 48.40. Swanson's time currently stands as the third-fastest in the country in the 100 fly. He also won the 100 backstroke event with a time of 49.10. Swanson was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week for his efforts.
Hamming, who will leave NU as one of its most accomplished swimmers, won the 200 fly, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley events against the Irish and appears to be peaking as the championship meets loom in the not-so-distant future.
Williams has been solid down the stretch as well. In the win over Michigan State, he tallied first-place finishes in the 500 and 1000 freestyle. Clark, meanwhile, has been a mainstay on the Wildcats' relay teams, swimming the freestyle leg of the 400 medley relay as well as anchoring the 400 freestyle relay.
Michigan, which comes in on the heels of back-to-back Big Ten dual victories over Purdue and Indiana, has not appeared in Evanston for a dual meet since 1989. The Wolverines came away with a 153-132 victory in last year's meeting in Ann Arbor.