The University of Wisconsin men's and women's swimming and
diving squads travel to Evanston, Ill., this weekend to take on Big Ten rivals
Northwestern and Michigan. With both teams holding 3-1 records coming off their
first losses of the season two weeks ago to Arizona, the Badgers look to stay
focused and put up a strong performance against their conference foes.

Led by junior Scott Rice on the men's side and senior
captain Jackie Vavrek on the women's side, the teams know that a stellar
performance will be required to achieve a victory. Both of these leaders are
integral to the team's success in and out of the pool.

"To our team, Scott brings the ability to be good at just
about anything he wants to be good at," head coach Eric Hansen said. "And not a
lot of people have the ability to do that."

Equally important to strong leadership is overcoming
obstacles and taking positives from defeat. Even though the women's squad
stumbled in its visit to Arizona with a 166-128 loss and the men not faring
much better, losing 172-116, the results should be not be taken lightly, as
they were challenged by one of the top teams in the country. Their performances
in the three meets before Arizona were indicative of the success that the
Badgers would like to achieve this season. Wisconsin will use wins at home
against Iowa and UW-Milwaukee and a tune-up victory on the road in their opener
against UW-Green Bay as models for success.

Vavrek says her team knows its capabilities and is hungry
for more.

"We've had some great meets thus far, but our biggest
challenges are definitely to come," Vavrek said. "We just have to keep looking
towards our big meets of the year, like the Texas Invite, Big Tens and NCAAs.
Those are the meets that really matter. Everything in between is just a
stepping stone. But seeing our team succeed along the way is definitely the
best kind of motivation for those end-of-the-season meets."

Now that the team has had the opportunity to adjust, its schedule
presents plenty of challenges. After the meet this weekend with its Big Ten
rivals, UW will head to Austin for the Texas invite, which should prove
challenging. Success in these meets will provide the opportunity to achieve team
goals.

"I think our expectations are first and foremost, to get
back into the top 20 (in the NCAAs) on both sides," Hansen said. "From there,
it's kind of an unknown. We're not going to worry about that. We worry about
our day-to-day operations, and how each kid does business, and how each kid
learns, and make sure they get what they need."

With the tough test that lies ahead, Hansen says his Badgers
are prepared.

"It's a great team. It's a tight team," Hansen said.
"There's a buzz to this season. We're excited for it and look forward to the
opportunities ahead."