_Daniel Hein leads a strong Missouri swimming recruiting class. The Illinois native is the 15th-ranked recruit in the country and is the YMCA national record-holder in the 100-yard backstroke. He chose Missouri over North Carolina State, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Iowa. He spoke to The Maneater about becoming a Tiger._
**ME**: When you were going through the recruiting process, what stood out about Mizzou?
**DH**: Obviously as a student athlete, you’ve got to look at both aspects of the school in regards to athletics and academics. And of course Mizzou is a great school academically and athletically, so that definitely stood out to me. But when I came here on my visit, the thing that boosted them up on my list and eventually made me choose them was just the team. I really liked hanging out with the guys, and I meshed well with them, so I guess that made me very confident in my decision in Mizzou … they have all the right tools for me to succeed.
**ME**: How much did Mizzou’s recent success help in your decision to come here?
**DH**: It helped a lot. Just to see how much they’ve improved just in the past five years that Coach Rhodenbaugh has been there, it’s crazy. The coaching staff has taken them from an average team in the NCAA … to a top-10 team. So it’s really great to come in and be a part of a team that’s on the rise and hopefully going to continue forward and upward in NCAAs.
**ME**: How much do you think it will help your times to swim with people that are more at your level?
**DH**: I used to swim with the high school kids when I was in middle school, and I would race them. And that’s when I started to see big time drops, when I was in that middle school to high school age and I would swim with the older kids. I’d always be trying to race them, trying to beat them. So I think definitely coming in to a very fast team that has a lot of swimmers that have potential at SECs and NCAAs is going to be awesome for me. Just racing them, it’s going to push me to be better and I’m going to push them. It’s going to be a double positive.
**ME**: Do you have specific goals going into the year?
**DH**: I would like to (make finals at) SECs and stuff. I’m looking at hopefully qualifying for NCAAs my freshman year, I think that would be awesome. That’s a very hard goal, but you never know what’s going to happen. I’ll talk more with the coaches when I get there and the other swimmers.
**ME**: Have you thought about the potential of being on Mizzou’s relays?
**DH**: It’s definitely crossed my mind a couple times … those relays are going to be real tough to get on to. Obviously I’m going to try my best to fight for a spot, but I know there’s seniors up there that are also fighting. Like I said, it’s going to be both of us pushing each other. Either way, if I’m on the relay or if I’m not, it’s going to make the relay faster.
**ME**: Nick Alexander (No. 21 class of 2016 recruit) is a fellow freshman backstroker. How excited are you to work with him?
**DH**: I’m definitely excited to work with Nick. Me and Nick are actually rooming, so we’re going to be pretty tight by the end of the season … I know he’s a great overall swimmer. He’s pretty much versatile in anything.
_Hein competed at this summer’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 100-meter backstroke._