Mike Bottom has never shied away from trying for some creativity. When his Michigan Wolverines take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Friday at the Canham Natatorium, the pool might feel a little short. That’s because it, in fact, will be a little short. The course will be set up at 20 yards long.

Check out the event schedule for Friday (which will roll into a more traditional 25-yard meet against Purdue on Saturday).

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday, Jan. 11

160-yard Medley Relay

500-yard Freestyle

40-yard Freestyle

100-yard Breaststroke

200-yard Backstroke

100-yard Butterfly

100-yard Freestyle

200-yard Breaststroke

40-yard Backstroke

200-yard Butterfly

200-yard Individual Medley

200-yard Freestyle

40-yard Breaststroke

100-yard Backstroke

40-yard Butterfly

160-yard Freestyle Relay

After some research, the Michigan staff rolled all the way back to the 1967 AAU Record Books, the last to show 20-yard records (which they had confirmed with the International Swimming Hall of Fame). One would imagine that most, if not all, of those records will be crushed.

1967 certainly wasn’t the last time races were swum in a 20 yard pool, however. During summer league meets in Suburban Chicago, there was one team in the league that still used the shorter distance that was once more standard, leading to some interesting conversion factors. If anyone has swum in this length of a pool before and has times (that they can prove), leave them in the comments and we will see how those stack up to what the Wolverines do tomorrow.

Bottom has confirmed that they will be enforcing the same 15-meter underwater rule as we see in a normal college meet. The last time there was any meets of any serious competition in a 20-yard pool, this rule wasn’t in place. Expect about two strokes per length in many of the races.

Expect even the races that come out to the same distance (for example, a 100 yard free) to be much faster over 20 yards because of the extra turn (5 lengths instead of 4). This meet could be a lot of fun to watch for those who are fans of the dolphin kick.