The first swimmer has to get off to a good start. The next two keep pace. The anchor maintains the lead. If he loses, the whole team loses. Four swimmers swimming as one. There is little room for error as the truest sense of the word team is exemplified by a relay team.

Penn State's 400-yard freestyle relay team has made few errors as it was called upon to be the deciding factor in two of the last three men's swimming meets. And the freestylers have not disappointed.

"We have a core of about eight guys I feel I can go to," Coach Peter Brown said.

Those eight guys have been the difference in victories over Pittsburgh on Jan. 8 and Virginia last weekend.

Against Pitt, the 400-yard freestyle relay teams took second and third to help the team earn a 123.5-119.5 victory. In similar fashion, with the meet against Virginia tied at 113, the relay team won the event to gain the 126-117 win.

The relay team relies on its depth, consistency, confidence, and speed to be successful.

"It is important to have depth as evident by the last two meets," Brown said. "If you have depth, they can be your go-to-guys."

They have been just that the last two meets. Against Virginia, the winning relay team, comprised of seniors Doug Cooper, Gene Lupinski, and Kirk Skoglund, along with junior Jason Eby, took the race with a time of 3:08.16. While Eby swam the anchor in that race, he said he felt no additional pressure.

"We win or lose as a team," he said. "If we lose, we all lose, and if we win, we all win."

Eby said he likes the close meets the most and added that he performs better with those circumstances.

"I was confident in the guys swimming behind me," Skoglund said. "I know they can bring the race home strong."

The other relay team members include freshman Sean Anderson, sophomore Michael Chang, and juniors Andy Sliver and Ned Walsh. The swimmers that will be grouped together to form the two relay teams are not known until just before the event.

"I go with who is hot at that point in time," said Brown about the way he picks the foursomes.

This Sunday against Ohio State, the meet could once again come down to the last event.

"It is going to be another close race," Eby said.

Brown said Ohio State's relay teams are exceptionally good and near the top in the country.

"Ohio State has a great team, and they will push us to the max," Brown said. "To beat their relays, we will have to be at our best,"

No doubt the Ohio State coach is saying the same thing about Penn State.