Junior: Haefner continued to add depth in the Cardinals great breaststroke group. At the BIG EAST Championships he competed in the 200-IM, and 100- and 200-breaststroke. He won the consolation final in the 200-IM with a time of 1:48.28. He recorded two 10th place finishes in the 100-breast in a time of 55:04 and in the 200-breast in a time of 1:59.41. In dual meet action, he finished second in the 100-breast and third in the 200-breast against Pitt.
Sophomore: Michael competed
at the USA Nationals
in August. Haefner competed
in the USA national
championships after having
a strong showing at the conference
meet. At the BIG
EAST Championships, he competed in the
200-IM and the 100- and 200-breast. He
placed fourth in the 200-IM with a time of
1:47.72, good enough to make the national
B-cut. Michael added two more fourthplace
finishes in the 100- and 200-breast,
recording B-cut times of 54.21 and 1:59.07.
Freshman: As a freshman, Michael qualified
for the BIG EAST Championships and
was named to the All- BIG EAST team. He
gained the A-finals in the 200-IM, where
he finished 7th in 1:49.82. Michael also
competed in two breast stroke events at the
BIG EAST championship. In the 100-breast,
he finished in 55.15 finishing in second
place and making the national B cut. In the
200-breast stroke, he finished in sixth place
with a time of 2:01.90.
Prep: Michael came
to the Cardinals from Bentonville, Arkansas,
where he swam for Aqua-hawgs Swim Club
was a District Champion in 2006, 2007,
2008 and earned All-District honors each of
those years. He was the state champion in
the 200-free both freshman and sophomore
year (2006 & 2007). At State, he won the
100-free as a sophomore in 2007. He earned
All-State honors in both 2006 and 2007.
Helping to lead Bentonville High School to
two State Championships in 2006 and 2007,
he was the 2007 Arkansas State High School
Male Swimmer of the Year. Although he
did not compete in 2008 High School
State meet, he still holds the fourth fastest
100-freestyle time in more than 50 years of
Arkansas High School Swimming. He was
a high school All-American in two events.
He had four SCY Senior National qualifying
times. A strong student, he was a USA Swimming
Scholastic Academic All- American
Team in 2008 and a member of the National
Honor Society.
Personal: Son of Jackie and
John Haefner. Born April 10, 1990. He is
majoring in accounting.