As one of the four seniors on the UW Swimming and Diving Team, Tim Liebhold is certainly no stranger to the swimming spotlight. Having qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team trials last year in Long Beach, Calif. (along with 12 other UW swimmers), Liebhold has raced alongside World Record Holders and Olympic medalists, yet he remains ever modest about his achievements.

Finishing eighth in the 200-meter Individual Medley (IM) finals with a time of 2:03:23, ninth in the 400-meter IM prelims (4:25:71) as well as placing 24th in the 100-meter backstroke prelims (57.74) during the 2004 Olympic Trials, his remarkable swims have earned him an honorable mention All-America selection.

"The past summer's Olympic trials have really opened my eyes to a lot of things out there," Liebhold said. "I realized that though (other swimmers) may beat me, I belong there and I was not out of place. I did my share of hard work and we as a team worked as hard as anybody out there. We were in there for a reason, and it was not just by pure accident."

Nonetheless, Liebhold has one advantage over other swimmers.

"I do not really think too much about pressure," Liebhold said. "I do not get very nervous before meets because I just think of it as another meet. Well, maybe just a little bit — but not to a point where it starts to affect my swim."

The civil engineering major has had more than 12 years of competitive swimming under his belt, and even though he was involved in various different sports, such as baseball in his younger days, swimming, without a doubt, remains his favorite sport today.

"The whole point in me continuing swimming is that I'm having fun," Liebhold said. "I am enjoying myself and am getting better, so I do not see any reason for me to stop. I can work for the rest of my life, but I can only swim for a certain amount of time, while I am still young."

A backstroke and IM specialist, Liebhold admits that though he enjoys swimming and competitions, he feels otherwise about training at times — something not unusual in any sport at this high level. Nevertheless, Liebhold remains optimistic and motivated to perform better, living up to expectations with sheer hard work.

With the number of freshmen easily outnumbering the contingent of upperclassmen on the team this season, the role of seniors to provide encouragement to their younger counterparts is all the more crucial.

"I think it is a very big change, especially for the freshmen and transfers, to come here," Liebhold said. "The way we train is completely unlike any way I have ever trained before. Nobody trains the way we do in terms on what our coach [Eric Hansen] has us focus on at each practice session. I think that it is our role [as seniors] to encourage the younger guys to stick with it and be above all things."

Liebhold speaks from personal experience, which makes it easier for him to relate to his teammates.

"It was very frustrating to come in here where everybody was the best swimmer on his or her team back home," Liebhold said. "It was hard to imagine that you might be at the bottom of the barrel for a little while, but you can not give up on it because the only way you were going to get better was through perseverance."

Many would, perhaps, find it surprising that the Chapel Hill, N.C., native decided to swim for the Badgers, instead of for his hometown Tar Heels at the University of North Carolina. In fact, the head coach for UNC-Chapel Hill was Liebhold's coach at the swimming club where the six-time state champion trained in his younger days. Yet, Liebhold was willing to leave the comforts and familiarity of home to seek out a new experience in Madison.

"I was ready for a change," Liebhold said. "What I found in the coaching staff here were people who were young but experienced and extremely enthusiastic about their work, people who cared for each and every one of us as more than just another face in the crowd."

As the team gears up for the men's Big Tens to be held in Minneapolis, Minn. later this week (Feb. 24-26), Liebhold explains that this meet will be important as it will serve as a stepping stone to the men's NCAA Championships that will be held during Spring Break (March 24-26), also in Minneapolis, Minn. After which, the team will head down to Indianapolis, Ind. for the World Championships Trials/World University Games Trials (April 1-6).

"I was a finalist in 2 individual events and was ninth in another at the Big Tens last year," Liebhold said. "I would really like to be at or faster than my best times — hopefully top five in all three of my individual events (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 backstroke), and maybe top three in at least one."

One would almost certainly be inclined to believe that swimming is a team sport after knowing Liebhold, who stresses the importance of team camaraderie.

"I hope that our relay teams will be able to place among the top few teams," Liebhold said. "But ultimately, our most important goal is to qualify more people for the NCAAs — as a team. We're one big family."