Michael Richards always has made himself at home at the Big Ten championships, so it was only fitting that in the senior sprinter's final season, the event would be held at his home pool.
Richards showed the competition at the University Aquatic Center his version of Minnesota hospitality this week, defending his conference titles in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events -- a feat no one has accomplished since Minnesota's Steve Jackman in 1962 and '63 -- to help the Gophers to a fourth-place finish.
"There was a lot of pressure coming into this meet to win them both again, so honestly when I got done with the 100 ... that was a huge relief to have done that," said Richards, who was named swimmer of the championships.
Michigan won the meet with 678 points. Indiana was second with 604 and Ohio State third with 593. Minnesota finished fourth with 505.5 points.
On Thursday, the second day of competition, Richards set a Big Ten record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.1 in the preliminary round before winning the final in 19.19.
Later that day, he anchored the 400-yard medley relay team to a fourth-place finish, swimming the final leg in a race-best 42.63 seconds.
On Friday, Richards led Minnesota's 200-yard freestyle relay team to a Big Ten championships record time of 1:16.78. Richards swam the first leg, eclipsing his own 50-yard conference record from the night before with a time of 19.05.
A day later, he solidified his stranglehold on the conference, winning the 100 freestyle in 43.2 seconds, edging Ohio State's Tim Phillips by .1 seconds.
