The Badger men's 200-meter freestyle relay team was fire on water Thursday as they competed in the 2004 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. The 200-meter team's finish propelled them into the consolation finals, where they raced to a first place finish with a time of 1:28.69.
The winners of the consolation race team consisted of juniors Adam Mania and Eric Wiesner and seniors Matt Marshall and Dale Rogers.
\I thought they really responded well to an up-and-down morning. They took charge and did all the right things. [They] gave us a great morning and set us up for a strong tomorrow night,"" said Head Coach Eric Hansen when asked about the 200-meter team.
The ""up-and-down morning"" Hansen mentioned was an anchor for the Badgers. The UW 400-meter medley relay seemed to have earned a spot in the consolation finals but were disqualified when judges ruled that Marshall left the blocks a mere .02 second early.
""It's very unfortunate and cost us quite a few points. They did all the right things and it's something we've corrected and we're looking forward to,"" Hansen said.
Previous to the tally of the diving and 400-medley teams, Hansen thought the UW men would finish around ninth to 12th place going into the second day of competition. The Badgers, however, slipped a little deeper and finished the day ranked 19th.
After the first day of competition Auburn leads the pack with 211 points. Stanford places second with 113, while Texas and Arizona are tied at third with 110.
The competition torpedoes into a crucial second day for UW and will culminate on Saturday.
