Stroker Ace : What Jeff Kubiak lacks physically he makes up for in competitiveness, and it is characteristic of this Northridge senior that he has harnessed this drive and established himself as a Division II champion.

It is unlikely that Jeff Kubiak will intimidate many people when he slips off his sweats and gets ready to enter the pool today at the University of Texas for the most important races of his life.

Kubiak in Speedos is not an inspiring sight. He lacks the rippled torso and muscular legs that are the trademark of swimmers in his specialty, the breaststroke. He is rather ordinary looking--a 5-10, 160-pound Volkswagen who makes like a Maserati when he hits the water.

It must be what’s under the hood.

“Jeff is one of those athletes who has that ingredient that makes up for what he lacks physically,” said Pete Accardy, Kubiak’s coach at Cal State Northridge.

Just what that “ingredient” is remains a mystery.

Accardy has said Kubiak could be better at kicking and turning and stronger in his arms and legs, then in the next breath added, “I’d have to say he’s the best we’ve ever had here.”

Even Kubiak isn’t sure what drives him. “All I know,” he said, “is that I hate to lose.”

The senior from Davis hasn’t suffered that fate often in his three years at Northridge. He has been defeated in only a handful of races, usually during periods when he was training rigorously and his opponents were shaven and rested.

In three years at the NCAA Division II championships, he won seven of nine races and was second in the other two. Twice coaches voted him the meet’s best swimmer.

For the past two years, the clock virtually has been Kubiak’s only competition in his best race, the 200 breaststroke. Even record times are now sometimes not good enough. At the 1986 nationals in Orlando, Fla., Kubiak reacted angrily after winning simply because he failed to break two minutes.

“That’s Jeff,” Accardy said with a shrug. “It’s his competitive nature.” Just how far that trait will carry him may be determined in the Texas pool today. The big fish from the little pond has been tossed into the ocean, the Division I championships.

Kubiak can compete in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at this level because he met Division I time standards and placed first or second in both events in Division II.

“It’s definitely the biggest meet of my life,” Kubiak said before leaving for Austin. “I’m pretty much a nobody--not known at all. Hopefully, I’ll be able to turn some heads.”

His goals are to make the finals in the 100 today, and place in the top three in the 200 on Saturday. To finish that high in the 200, he likely will have to trim almost three seconds off the 1:59.84 time he swam in winning the event three weeks ago at the Division II meet.

“He could do it,” Accardy said, “if everything goes right.” The time Kubiak will have to improve on is a little deceiving. The pool at Long Beach Plaza, in which the Division II meet was held, is considered significantly slower than the site of the Division I meet.

“If he swims as well as he did at Long Beach, with the better competition and faster pool, he could be right there,” Accardy said. “I’ve learned not to sell Jeff short.”

How appropriate.

When Accardy first saw Kubiak swim about three years ago, he not only was lacking physically but was also somewhat short on talent. He was swimming for Sacramento City College in the state junior college championships.

“He expended a lot of energy for as fast as he went,” Accardy said. “He was making quite a few mistakes. But I liked him because he was a tough kid. He gave it everything he had.”

Kubiak had competed as a swimmer off and on since the age of 4 but had not been aware that Sacramento had a team until he already was enrolled. In high school, he was better known as a water polo player.

“I was tired of swimming,” he said of his high school years. “I had done it for so long I was burned out.”

Success has refreshed his attitude, however, although he has cursed his share of alarm clocks.

“Every day when that clock would go off I’d think, ‘Is it really worth it?’ ” Kubiak said. “After you work out at night, you have dinner, study, go to sleep and get up early the next morning and start training again. It’s an endless cycle.”

The grind was especially tough mentally since Kubiak had little competition in Division II. After setting two national records as a sophomore he said he had considered a transfer.

“I talked to some coaches about it and I talked to Pete,” Kubiak said. “There were some positives, but I would have had to sit out a year and adjust to another coach. I finally decided it just wouldn’t be fair. I think my ego got a little too big. Pete had helped me so much, I couldn’t leave.”

So, instead of regularly competing at the Division I level, Kubiak had to settle for one shot--at the finals.

He would have gone last season, but doctors advised him to rest torn muscles in his groin and hip area after the Division II meet. “My legs were really weak,” he said. “I was in constant pain--even walking and sitting.”

Kubiak hopes to erase more than three years of frustration in the next two days, but his future also is riding on his performances.

“The Olympics was always a goal of mine,” Kubiak said, “and it always seemed like such a longshot. Now, it seems a little more real. The door is cracked open now and the better I do, the more it will open. If I do well, there is a chance I could make the World University Games.”

Doing well doesn’t necessarily mean winning in this case. Kubiak would settle for placing high enough to gain some attention. But there’s always that chance. . . .

“Could he win it?” Accardy repeated the question. “Personally, I wouldn’t be shocked. Jeff and I would probably be the only ones who wouldn’t be. He’s a very tough individual, and he’s not going to go back there and fold.”

“I don’t think anything is out of the question,” Kubiak said. “I don’t like to limit myself.”