The women's swimming and diving team overcame opening jitters to finish strong at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas, last week.

"It was the kind of a meet you read about but don't go to," Fran McDermid said. "You realize how competitive swimming is."

The Lady Lions were seeded 18th in the first event of the meet, the 200-yard freestyle relay. Jane Kleiderlein, Denise Sonntag, McDermid and Kristin Lilly finished 20th in the preliminaries with a time of 1:34.90, not enough to place them in the second round. Coach Bob Krimmel attributed the performance to first-day nervousness.

The same team fared better in the 400 freestyle relay, placing ninth in the preliminaries with a time of 3:24.20. This earned the Lady Lions an appearance in the second round.

The Lady Lions finished 10th in the nation with a time of 3:23.32, a new Penn State record. They beat Alabama in the event, avenging a regular-season loss. They also beat all the Big 10 schools entered, Northwestern, Minnesota and Michigan.

"I think being able to swim (the 200 freestyle relay) before that event helped," Krimmel said. "They stayed focused and showed their maturity."

Amy Schmidt was 27th after the preliminaries in the one-meter diving, but came back to finish 18th overall.

"At first I was overwhelmed," Schmidt said. "But from watching the other divers I've learned to keep composure. The other divers aren't perfect either, they make mistakes too."

"You need a name usually to get a score," Krimmel said. "For a first time diver at NCAAs she did an outstanding job. As a team they should be proud of what they've accomplished."

"I don't think there's any way we won't be in the top eight next year," Lilly said.

For next year, the outlook is good. The only graduating member if this year's NCAA team is Sonntag. The others have learned from their experiences.

"It taught us that if you set your mind to it you'll do really well," McDermid said. "You can always get better and swim faster."

Practice for next season starts today.