The Gophers, after two relay events, are in third place in the Big Ten men's swimming and diving championships at the University Aquatic Center.
Michigan won both relays on the first day, the 800-yard freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay. So the Wolverines are first with 80 points, defending champion Ohio State is second with 68 and the host Gophers are third with 60 points, two ahead of Indiana.
Michigan was the defending champion in both those relays. As for the Gophers, they were fourth in both relays.
The 200 medley, anchored by senior Michael Richards, swam a season-best 1 minutes, 26.11 seconds. And Richards? He went a sizzling 18.71 seconds in the 50 freestyle, the last leg of the medley.
Richards is the defending conference champion in both the 50 and 100 freestyles. To put his 18.71 in perspective, he won the title in that sprint event last year in 19.47 seconds. Eight of the nine other anchor swimmers in the medley relay cracked 20 seconds, but none was below 19 seconds except for Richards.
The 50 freestyle final is Thursday night as are finals in the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 1-meter diving and the 400 medley relay. Prelimaries begin at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, and finals at 6:30 p.m.
