College athletes have immense duties to their teams, academics and personal interests. While it can be challenging to find a balance, Texas fifth-year swimmer Daniel Krueger has found a way to do both as a three-time national champion and 2021 Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year.

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As a national champion across multiple categories, Krueger’s swimming accolades display his athletic prominence. He won the 400 free relay in 2019 and 2022 and the 400 medley relay in 2021, making him a national title winner in three of his four collegiate years.

While Krueger has reason to take pride in his personal accomplishments, he said that the Texas men’s swimming and diving team winning the 2021 NCAA National Championship is the accolade that resonates most with him.

“That was really special,” Krueger said. “A lot of people sacrificed a lot to get us there … it was really hard-fought and it was a really good experience.”

Even though Krueger isn’t one to brag about being a 19-time All-American swimmer, his success in the pool becomes more impressive given his academic load as an electrical engineering major. 

Growing up homeschooled in McFarland, Wisconsin, the transition to a southern college with over 50,000 students was a stark one. Instead of falling prey to an overly competitive environment while balancing his swim duties, Krueger thrived. He has been a member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for all eight semesters he’s been on campus.

Before arriving on the Forty Acres, Krueger said he took a couple of technical college courses. The classes prepared him for his academic life at Texas by helping him become more responsible. Even with his prior academic preparation, Krueger said that his coaches and peers also aided in his effective transition to life as a student-athlete at Texas.

When Krueger was a freshman during the 2018-19 season, former seniors on the squad, John Shebat, Tate Jackson and Ryan Harty, welcomed the new arrival, easing his transition into the fold.

“They all took me under their wing and helped me to learn how to become a college athlete,” Krueger said.

The preparation from his peers led to Krueger’s flourishing in the classroom. In a challenging major like engineering, Krueger said he finds joy in his technically demanding classes. Of all his classroom memories at Texas, Krueger said that designing an amplifier circuit stands out the most.

“We had a competition to design the lowest power amplifier, which I did quite well in the competition,” Krueger said. “It was just really fulfilling to see it required a lot of different skills … and just to see them all come together in a competitive format was really cool.”

Krueger applies his intellectual curiosity to other facets of life, too. In an appearance on the Ultimate Swimmer Podcast in 2020, Krueger spoke about learning Greek, the language of one of the original biblical texts, for his Bible study sessions. While in college, he has taken the opportunity to learn across multiple fields within science.

“I really enjoy learning different skills,” Krueger said. “I’ve also gotten a pre-med minor … (that’s) piqued my curiosity in a bunch of different fields that I’ve really enjoyed pursuing, (to) have a breadth of knowledge.”

When it comes to balancing his hectic athletic and academic schedule, Krueger said he takes inspiration from a former Olympian, Maya DiRado, that he heard speak once. Her advice about the two building off each other, rather than competing with each other, is how he tries to manage his workload.

“If you have, say, a good training set, then you can relax from that by doing your schoolwork,” Krueger said. “If you have a good day in one, then you can continue that momentum into good schoolwork. And if you don’t have such a good day in schoolwork, then you can go into the pool and clear your head. (That’s) it really for me … I try and think of it as two things that kind of benefit each other.”