Scott Rice may not be the most vocal member of the Wisconsin men’s swimming team, but the junior’s ability to lead by example has helped guide the Badgers to a 3-0 start to the season.

"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."

Rice, a junior originally from Des Moines, Wash., comes from a long line of athletes.

"I got into swimming because my whole family swam," Rice said. "I am the seventh of eight children in my family, and we were all very athletic."

Rice’s development as a great swimmer began at a young age and has continued into his collegiate career. As a state champion in high school Scott earned many honors, including the 2005 Washington Swimmer of the Year.

For Wisconsin, Rice is one of the team’s top competitors in the individual medley and butterfly, but has been very versatile in the water for the Badgers.

"Scott sets an example to the rest of the team by always being a guy you can count on to give it his all at each meet," senior captain Brett Koerten said. "It doesn’t matter what events the coaches put him in, he will give it his best effort and more than likely be competing for the win."

In helping Wisconsin win its first three meets, Rice is off to his best start as a Badger. He has already seen early success in winning the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard IM against UW-Milwaukee, the 100-yard butterfly against Iowa and finishing first in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly against UW-Green Bay.

"The whole start of my season is a pretty good accomplishment because I never have been quite this fast my first few meets of my other seasons," Rice said.

Rice has not gone unrecognized for his early season efforts. He was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week after the team’s first meet at Green Bay in October.

"I think it is a great honor for Scott to be named Big Ten Swimmer of the Week," Koerten said. "Over the past couple of years, he has established himself as one of the top swimmers in the conference. It is great to see him get the recognition he deserves."

While individual honors are nice for the team to have, it is really the NCAA Championships at the end of the season that matters most to Rice, his coaches and his teammates.

"I think Scott knows he’s capable of a whole lot, and I think the expectations that he puts out there are very high this year, so it’s nice for him to be recognized," Hansen said. "But all in all, the main thing is going to be what we can do at the end of the year."

As the undefeated Badgers get ready to travel to Arizona this weekend and look ahead to Big Ten competition down the road, they will have to keep the poise and determination that has gotten them off to a fast start.

As for Rice, he will need to continue to lead his teammates by example and assume any role the team needs.

"I think that I am helping to lead the team with the other upperclassmen by the way that I train and compete," Rice said. "Most of the new people on the team have never competed at this level before, and I just try to show them that it is no different than any other meet."