A year later, upon arriving at Harvard halfway into freshman week, the British superstar discovered his roommate was none other than Hackett who greeted him with, "Coglin, where the hell have you been?"

While Hackett often overshadowed his teammate in the pool, the coaches awarded Coglin the William Brooks award for "outstanding effort and achievement" at the end of the season.

"When Coglin arrived his arm stroke was rough and needed adjustment. He also needed to learn how to sprint," coach Joe Bernal said.

The brown-haired, blue-eyed swimmer feels his body position is his greatest asset and says "no matter how bad my stroke is, my body position is good."

Coglin, however, stressed the importance of psychological buildup over physical training in swimming. "It's all in the mind, people either fall apart or come together up there," he said.

"At meets, I see everyone who has been doing the same work as me with Bernal swimming well, and I know I've got no other option than to swim well; and just that confidence alone is good for your brain," Coglin added.

In addition to not letting the team down, the "slimey limey" depends on pride as a motive for getting psyched.

"Coglin's an incredibly fierce competitor who won't lose to anyone without a battle," Mack said.

Sometimes, this intense competition spills over into practice where Coglin often challenges his teammates in the Ali "I am the greatest" style.

"Coglin will challenge a breaststroker in practice and even if he loses he'll jump up and down with clenched fists and yell, 'I'm number one,' "freshman Jack Gauthier said.

Coglin, however, thrives on rivalry. "I swim on hate," he said, adding "You've got to beat the other guy or else you can't got to beat the other guy or else you can't face up to your own life."

While Cogin plainly admits he likes glory, his goal in swimming is "to get more out of it than I put in," which might explain why he's missed 70 per cent of the morning practices this year.

Team captian Malcolm Cooper, who said he missed 100 per cent of the morning practices last year, described Coglin as one of the many team members who "swim for the team and not the coach."

Bernal agreed that Coglin "worked as hard as anyone else" but added he was "temperamental."

Exhibiting his dry British wit. Coglin summed up his relationship with Bernal as "We get along swimmingly."

Most of the team appreciates the humor as Mack explained, "Coglin will come down to the pool dressed in a pimp's outfit or big ski boots and everyone will just die."

Hackett gave Coglin a taste of his own medicine by saying, "He's always good-natured, plus he thinks he's the best-looking guy around."

"Mike's fun to have at practice, although we'd like to lock him in a closet for a week or two," Bernal said.