Four years ago, junior David Chan was leading a platoon as a lieutenant in the Singapore army. He didn’t even know Michigan had a men’s gymnastics team.

Four years ago, senior Phil Goldberg walked on to the Michigan men’s gymnastics team, constantly wondering if and when he’d be cut.

Now, they're both All-Americans. Early last semester, their teammates elected them co-captains.

“I guess I was surprised,” Goldberg said of his selection. “It’s a great honor, honestly.”

Neither Wolverine expected his selection, but both take the job seriously. They are determined to do a better job preparing their team for performance under pressure than previous captains have done.

Goldberg tends to be more vocal, while Chan leads by example — hitting pommel horse three days in a row at the 2008 NCAA Championships, for instance. In the "setting a good example" department, Goldberg is no slouch either, coming back from injury to anchor the Wolverines’ ring team last year.

But hitting their sets is only part of the battle.

“They're listening to the team, working with the team," senior Jamie Thompson said of the co-captains. "They’re actually making it more of a team than it has been.”

Though many of Chan’s teammates saw his leadership experience in the military as a plus, Chan called leading gymnasts “a completely different beast.”

“In the military … you could tell someone to do something and they would have to do it,” said Chan, who will turn 24 on March 18. “(With the gymnastics team), you have to be able to gain someone’s trust and someone’s idea that they will listen to you, that when you do say something, they pay attention.”

Chan said this year he realized his own spirits could affect the atmosphere in the gym. Since then, he’s tried to ensure that he stays upbeat, even if he’s having a bad day.

“If you don’t believe it, at least look it,” Chan said. “Sometimes, if you keep doing something long enough, you actually believe it in the end.”

Goldberg thought about Michigan's 1999 NCAA Championship team, whose lore is well known among the gymnasts, and decided that the Wolverines had been too tense in competition.

By encouraging the long workouts and tough strength circuits the team already had in place, Goldberg hopes to foster a bolder style among his teammates.

“I want to lead the team in an aggressive manner in competing, kind of get rid of that timid style that’s come back to haunt us in the past,” Goldberg said.

Under the new captains, the Wolverines have seen positive results. Michigan was ranked No. 6 coming into the season, and it won the season-opening Windy City Invitational easily, upsetting higher-ranked teams like Ohio State and Illinois. With their two captains showing nothing but confidence, the Wolverines calmly brushed off mistakes and got back to hitting routines.

And though of the two, only Goldberg competed against No. 3 Penn State last weekend, the same effect was apparent. He led off the meet with a hit on pommel horse, hit his rings set and helped guide the Wolverines to an encouraging comeback attempt that ended just short of victory.

Last season, Michigan often allowed teams to jump back into the competition or retake the lead on the final two events. At the intimidating Rec Hall, the Wolverines used those final rotations to push the Nittany Lions to the brink.

The two captains have made taken on more responsibility and paid extra attention to how all their teammates are doing in the gym. After the Penn State meet, Goldberg tacked up individual comments on each of the weekends routines, including his own, on the team's bulletin board.

“They’re both good students, they’re both diligent trainers, and they got elected for being who they were,” Golder said. “I want them to keep being (themselves).”