Eight members of the men's swimming and diving team will compete in the NCAA championships, tomorrow through Saturday, in Indianapolis, Ind. Last year, Penn State finished 33rd.

The Lions qualified for NCAAs in one diving event, two individual swimming events and four of the five relays events at the Eastern Seaboard Championships.

Relays were the team's primary focus this year, because, Coach Peter Brown said, getting into relay events at NCAAs every year says something about the success of a school's swimming program.

Individually, Nick Boyce will swim the 100 and 200 backstroke.

"He's lost his confidence in his flip turns in the backstroke," teammate Walter Sopp said, "but Nick's the kind of guy who comes through in the clutch. I have no doubts that he'll hold up his end of the bargain in the relays and do his best times ever."

"There's no question he'll do well," Brown said. "He swam faster at nationals last year than he had all year. He's a good big meet swimmer."

Boyce said that he will concentrate on improving his 100 backstroke time to under 50 seconds. The sophomore recorded his lifetime best (50.32) at Easterns.

"In the individual events, I just want to improve my times," Boyce said. "Next year will be my year to start making moves individually. This year I just want to get the relays going."

Penn State placed second at Easterns in the 400-yard medley relay and set a school record with its qualifying time of 3:19.23. The same four, Boyce, James Sloat, Thad Davis and Sopp, will try to improve that time at NCAAs and also swim the 200 medley relay.

The Lions' only win at Easterns came in the 400 freestyle relay from Adam Carroll, Boyce and Drew Van Winkle, who all posted lifetime bests during their swim with Sopp. Their 2:59.20 effort earned them a NCAA berth.

"Our relays at Easterns were good solid performances but they weren't by any means our best swims," Brown said. "I fully expect what we take to NCAAs to be faster."

He has not yet decided which combination will swim the freestyle relay events but has narrowed it to Ed Adelman, Boyce, Carroll, Davis, Sopp and Van Winkle. A group of four will also compete in the 200 freestyle relay.

"My goal is to place all the relays and I want us to get higher places than we've ever gotten," Sopp said. "The 400 freestyle relay has a great chance of going under top 10 if everyone performs the way they can."

The only relay the Lions did not qualify for was the 800 freestyle, a cut Brown said was tough but attainable.

"We just didn't get it together," he said. "Our other relays are very solid and have a legitimate shot at placing in the top 16."

Brown said that although his team has lost a few close relay races this season, he expects it to be just as competitive.

"We'll probably have to improve a second on each relay but that's not asking too much from each guy," he said. "Take offs, turns and finishes can add up quickly and make or break you."

About 20 schools made the relay cuts, which have gotten about a second faster this year.

"Compared to past years, 20 teams in the 400 yard events is low," he said. "I think the thing that's going to help us is that there isn't as many teams that have qualified and everything will be bunched tighter."

Last year at NCAAs, the Lions got 13th in the 400 freestyle relay. Except for Sopp, the relay members graduated.

"Now that we've competed there before, it won't be such a big deal," Brown explained. "Qualifying is especially good since we were able to do it with such a young team."

In the beginning of the season, the graduation of 10 seniors looked to be a problem for the Lions. However, the addition of 10 freshmen in key areas offset the loss. Four of the newcomers are going to NCAAs.

"With the enthusiastic young talent on our team, there's no doubt that we're going to have the best places that Penn State's ever had at a national meet," Sopp said.

Diver D.J. Hill, who qualified for the meet as an alternate, was told yesterday that he will replace a Pitt diver who is unable to compete because of a rule violation.

Although Hill has not been in intense training for the meet, Diving coach Craig Brown said he should place between top 20 to 25. The last Penn State diver to compete in NCAAs was in 1984.

This year, NCAAs have been moved up a week because the committee felt the meet was too long after everyone's conference championships. Also, in the future, swimmers will want to get the meet finished in March so they can continue preparing for the Olympic Trials.

Brown said the biggest challenge in the time period between Easterns and NCAAs is maintaining concentration and keeping a focus on what they want to accomplish.

"I think we did a good job of it but we'll know for sure soon," he said.

In that time, practices have been lighter than usual. The team has been concentrating on speed drills, turns and exchange work.

"The challenge is to strive for perfection," Brown said. "It's not a question of whether you are fast enough or good enough, its whether you can eliminate the little mistakes and get a relay that's as near perfect as possible.

"Some guys just want to go to nationals for the sake of being there, we want to go and swim our best times."