Scott Rice is not the most discernible athlete on Wisconsin's campus. Unlike the 6-foot-6 Alando Tucker or the 241-pound P.J. Hill, Rice does not reveal his athleticism through a colossal body frame.
At a slim 5 feet and 10 inches, the sophomore swimmer more closely resembles an average UW student. While Rice emerges as one of the shortest members of the swimming team, his coaches do not consider him disadvantaged.
"Some people are 6-foot-5, and they don't use their body the right way in the water. Scott is much shorter than that, and he uses every inch he has the right way," assistant coach Kari Woodall said. "He's very fluid in the water and very efficient and powerful."
Woodall also praised the young Rice as "a natural swimmer."
"He came to the sport a little late and hadn't swum year-round until the year before he came to college," agreed head coach Eric Hansen. "He had a great freshman year."
In 2005-06, as a freshman, Rice earned Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honors and barely missed qualifying for the NCAA championships. In a learning-filled freshman season that Rice characterized as satisfying, he pointed to the elite Texas Invitational as last season's most memorable highlight, where he set Wisconsin's top time for the season for the 200-butterfly event (1:47), a personal best by three seconds.
Last season's impressive Texas Invitational time is one reason why Rice's coaches place a lot of confidence in the sophomore swimmer for butterfly and medley events, and they anticipate and expect greater accomplishments.
"He's our go-to guy in certain events. If we need someone to win, we can count on him," said Woodall.
"Everybody knows he's going to show up, and we rely on him. He's going to be a world-class swimmer and one of the best in the nation," Hansen said.
Wisconsin's swimming coaches lament in only one regard about Rice: They see him as a great talent who is just beginning to reach his potential, but who has not yet performed well enough to merit national attention.
"[Rice] has got the tools and the work ethic, but in this sport you don't succeed overnight, it takes time," said Hansen.
And Hansen believes his rigorous, two-hour, two-a-day swimming practices will help Rice develop into a major talent. Rice wakes up at 5:30 a.m. so he can attend practice at 6 a.m. With practices running year-round, the only time for a break is right before a meet, when coaches will ease the burden of training by instituting practice once a day.
"It's no break," Rice jokes.
This week the men's swimming team will start practicing once a day, as they are traveling to Minneapolis for the Minnesota Invitational Nov. 17-19. The 2006 swimming season concludes with the elite Texas Invitational, which will take place Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 in Austin.
Coach Hansen believes these upcoming meets will allow Rice — a quiet, young leader and competitor — to mature so he can qualify for this year's NCAA championships. He sees a bright future ahead.
"We expect to be better and expect to be back in the top 20 [nationally]," Hansen said. "It's hard to be patient at times when you have so many young kids [such as Rice], but at the same time, it's real fun to see."
