The men's swimming and diving team swept the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 butterfly yesterday in a mismatched meet against Division II Shippensburg. The meet was so lopsided that the Lions' won both races using swimmers who usually do not compete in those events.

Instead of the usual break between the swimming and diving events, both competed at the same time. And, although the divers had to suffer through the cheering crowd during the 200 freestyle relay, they also swept both diving events.

The victories lifted Penn State (3-2) to a 137-106 win over the Red Raiders.

"Shippensburg had some good talent and they pushed us in certain areas but we swam strong enough to get the job done," Coach Peter Brown said.

He was a little modest talking about his victory, however, as the Lions did not swim their strongest team. Penn State got seven first places as the new lineup showed the depth and diversity of his squad.

"We didn't want to get too hyped up or put too much emphasis on this meet," Brown said. "Our guys went out and had fun and swam well."

"It takes some of the pressure off," Captain Brad Semle said. "Swimming in the same events every single meet can get kind of monotonous. Also, with so many people on our team, everyone can't swim the races they like the best."

Semle, winner of the 1000 freestyle, was one of the Lions who swam his regular event. The senior holds the school record for that event but was hampered earlier this season with a shoulder injury, forcing him to miss most of the fall meets. Although his time was 17 seconds off his record, he was pleased with the progress he has made thus far.

"I came out too fast in the Pitt meet, but I paced myself better this time," he said of his six-second improvement. "It's going to take me a while to get back to where I need to be. Last year I was probably about 12 seconds faster at this point in the season."

In diving action, Mike Westwood won the 1-meter board, followed by D.J. Hill and Jeff Eagles. Eagles placed ahead of Steve Zamborsky and Joe Marsh on the 3-meter board.

Perhaps the seniors have gotten old and set in their ways, because freshmen led the sweeps in the swimming events. Adam Carroll won the 50 freestyle in 21.68, followed by Ed Adelman (21.80) and William Hurst (22.09).

"This was the first time I swam the 50 in awhile," Adelman said. "But I wanted to go a couple of tenths faster."

Quinn Carver took honors in the 100 butterfly in 52.91. He touched out Carroll (53.18) and Steve Wukitch (53.24).

Phil Meyer rounded out the first places with a victory in the 200 freestyle in 1:44.36.

The Lions return to their regular events at 3 tomorrow at McCoy Natatorium for their long awaited matchup with the University of Virginia.

If Penn State hopes to beat Virginia, Brown said it has to pay attention to turns, exchanges and other small details that could cut precious seconds from a swimmer's time.