In high school, swimmer Carrie Kundrat did not have a date book -- she had a season book. Fall was for tennis, winter for swimming, and spring and summer for both.

She somehow managed to balance all of her seasons.

"It was tough the first week (of swimming practice)," Kundrat said. "My friends on the team were training already, I couldn't because tennis was still going on. After the first week of training, I was fine. I was right up there with them."

Kundrat's other high school activities ranged from student council president to member of the National Honor Society.

"She was involved in lots of things," said Larry Strait, Kundrat's tennis coach at Hershey High School. "But it wasn't a problem -- she was a good tennis player and a good swimmer."

Kundrat has continued to be a good swimmer at Penn State during the first half of this season and wants to improve in the second half.

Over the semester break, Kundrat and her teammates were focused on their intense 10-day training in Coral Springs, Fla. Training in Florida as a member of a Division I college swimming team was the result of many years of hard work for the Hummelstown native.

Kundrat began swimming at age four and started to play tennis a couple of years later. During those years, she swam for the Hershey Aquatic Club and attended tennis camps over the summer. She stopped swimming for the club at age 13 and thought about only playing tennis in the future.

"I wanted to explore my tennis and accentuate that," she said. "But I missed the swimming and had a strong focus on swimming, especially my junior and senior years of high school."

Kundrat returned to swimming two years later, but it seemed only natural that she continue to play tennis and swim in high school.

"I have played tennis and swam my whole life," she said. "And I wanted to do both in high school. I got to meet a lot of people -- from my school and other schools."

Kundrat briefly thought about continuing with tennis and swimming in college.

"Swimming is a hard sport to double up with another sport," she said. "Academics are very important to me. When I got here, I knew I wouldn't be able to do all three."

Strait said that Kundrat had the capability to either swim or play tennis at Penn State.

"She is a natural athlete," Strait said. "She will be working to try to do better, she always strived to improve. I'm happy to see her succeeding."

Coach Bob Krimmel is happy to see Kundrat succeeding as well. He said he believes that she has improved tremendously since walking onto the team last year.

"Carrie wasn't sure she wanted to come out for the team," Krimmel said. "She was going to wait a year and adjust to college life. She finally said, 'OK, I'm going to try it.' "

Kundrat, a sophomore, swam well last year in backstroke and freestyle events and wants to drop her times this year and swim well at the Big Ten Championships.

"I think they are definitely realistic goals for her at this point," Krimmel said. "She'll be in backstroke and freestyle and we'll keep her in those two areas. We'll expand her events and look at other things for her."

Even though she has given up tennis to swim at Penn State, Kundrat anticipates playing tennis and swimming throughout her life.

"When I go home, I like to pick up the racket and play," she said. "They're both lifetime sports and I'll definitely carry them through as lifetime sports."