The Wisconsin men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams open their seasons this afternoon at the UW Natatorium, hosting UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee at 2.

Both teams come off of strong 2003-04 seasons, which for the women included a 10th place finish at the NCAA Championships, their highest in school history. They hope to use last season as a foundation for consistent success.

“The more consistent you are in getting to the top 10, the better your chances are in getting in that top five and ultimately a national championship,” said assistant coach Kari Woodall, who will stand in for head coach Eric Hansen today.

The women’s roster contains nine freshmen, making the Badgers a very young squad. However, the team is not concerned, noting the talent and consistency of the entire group.

“Normally you’ll see a cyclical effect with teams,” Woodall said. “You’ll develop your team and maybe have one or two great years. I don’t see that fall off. We’re seeing some things we weren’t expecting out of our freshmen.”

Today’s event provides an opportunity for the coaching staff to test out different events for swimmers and gauge where everyone stands. Some teams choose to only have an intra-squad meet to start the year, but the Badgers have the opportunity to get off the blocks against outside competition.

The individual athletes are not hung up on point totals at this stage of the season, but will attempt to get comfortable in their roles before heading on the road in coming weeks.

“It’s nice to get some feedback for the first meet,” junior All-American Anna Trinidad said. “You get to see some good swimming. It will show how good we are depth-wise.”

Leading the women’s team will be senior Carly Piper, who won a gold medal in Athens as a member of the USA 800-meter freestyle relay.

“Considering Carly’s success, people should really get excited about our season,” Trinidad said.

Piper, along with fellow Olympian Adam Mania will be absent today. Both are in Indianapolis with Coach Hansen, at the FINA World Swimming Championships.

Mania’s teammates will try to build on another top-20 finish at the NCAAs on their end of today’s opener. The men took 16th place at the tournament last year after finishing 13th two years ago.

While the men’s team has spent the last four years hovering in the top 20, players think this may be the year they join the women at the next tier.

“Every year we set our expectations really high,” senior Tim Liebhold said. “Top 10 for both teams is a very significant accomplishment, and I think we have a good shot for both teams to do that.”

Liebhold reached the finals in the trials for the U.S. Olympic team this summer and hopes to build on that success during the season.

“Personally this summer was really a breakthrough year for me,” Liebhold said. “I really think that I can score in three top 10 events this year and there are a couple school records that may be in reach.”

Liebhold, Mania and senior Eric Weisner provide a solid corps of talent for the Badgers, who lost a number of senior sprinters. Like the women though, the men boast a strong recruiting class capable of making up for those losses.

“I really think we have a good mix,” Liebhold said. “The exciting thing about our coaching staff and recruiting class is that not only can we bring in talent now, but we can bring in developing talent. We have guys that are ready to step up. They just need to do it.”

In addition to talented young swimmers, the men signed four freshmen divers, which the team has not had in past years. Woodall notes increasingly difficult recruiting as the reason that Wisconsin could not sign male divers in the past.

“There are so many sports for guys to choose from, and there aren’t a whole lot of male swimmers to choose from because they are cutting men’s programs,” Woodall said. “Less and less guys in high school are swimming with less chances to swim in college. Diving is even smaller than that so it’s difficult to get divers.”

Liebhold said the men approach the meet the same way the women do, as a serious barometer of where they stand heading into the season.

“We take it seriously in that we only get a limited number of opportunities to race,” Liebhold said. “It’s very good for us to have a meet like this to see where we’re at. But they’re not to be brushed off by any stretch of the imagination.”

Today’s meet is one of very few chances for students to catch the Badger swimmers in action. They will travel across the country in the coming months, including stops in Tucson, Austin and Honolulu. The women will not return to the Natatorium until February, while the men come home one additional time in November to face Michigan.

“How often do you have a chance to see top-level swimming in Wisconsin?” Liebhold said. “We’re only home t