No. 17 Northwestern enters this weekend’s double-dual meet in Evanston against Wisconsin and No. 4 Michigan struggling to find its groove.

The team has dropped three of its first four dual meets and has failed to fill the void left by graduated NCAA champion swimmers Matt Grevers and Mike Alexandrov.

“We’re a work in progress,” coach Bob Groseth said. “Last year with Matt and Mike, we expected to win every meet. This year it’s different.”

With eight freshmen added to the Wildcats’ roster, overall expectations might have dropped, but tutoring the team’s younger swimmers is an opportunity many of its veterans relish.

“You have to learn and experience (the dual meets) to understand that it’s okay to go fast midseason,” said senior back and breaststroke specialist Kyle Bubolz, who has been one of the team’s bright spots, winning two events in its last meet. “Being broken down and sore doesn’t mean you can’t swim fast, and a lot of the seniors this year have to teach the freshman that.”

Despite the losses from last year’s team, NU still has a very able group of swimmers.

Junior Eric Nilsson has been a force in the early season, posting top-three times in three freestyle lengths, as well as in both the 200- and 400-meter individual medley. Senior Bruno Barbic, a sprint specialist, swam NU’s best races in the 50- and 100-meter free.

Bubolz said he believes posting these top times in the early going are crucial, not only to the individual swimmer, but also the team.

“A big part of what Matt and Mike did was swimming fast in dual meets and reflecting that energy on everyone else,” he said. “I believe that is my spot now.”

The dual meets traditionally have little bearing on a team’s late season success, but Groseth does see their value.

“It’s important for the younger swimmers to learn how to race against faster competition,” he said. “Though, for the most part, these early meets are largely unimportant.”

This weekend will provide as good a forum as any in assessing the Cats’ strengths and weaknesses. Michigan, ranked fourth in the country, has defeated two of the country’s top-10 teams, with its only loss coming to No. 1 Texas. Wisconsin is unranked but has a 3-1 record and should show up motivated for races against two of its Big Ten rivals.

“We match really well with Wisconsin,” Groseth said. “That should be a very good meet.”

Reach James Graham at [email protected].