Sophomore Chip Berry and freshman George Reimer are giving the men's swimming and diving team something to boast about to its Big Ten opponents. They are two of the strongest distance freestylers in a conference known to be one of the most challenging for swimming.

Individually, they have contrasting styles: Berry has more staying power, an asset that allows him to pace himself through the 1,000-yard free, the 500 and the 1,650. He takes first place most often because of this.

Reimer has more speed. He's off the starting block and in the water much quicker than his teammate. The combination of the two means trouble for their opponents.

"Chip has his sights set on NCAAs and George is right behind him," Coach Peter Brown said. "George is swimming as fast as he's ever swum. And whatever he does this year is only an indication of what can be done next year."

The Ohio State meet was a great example of how the swimmers complement each other. Berry placed first in the 1,000 and Reimer took second. Then, they flipflopped in the 500 free, when Reimer placed first and Berry got the number two spot.

Berry knows improvement will only come with practice. While he likes facing the opponents listed on the schedule, he'd settle for racing in the pool with his fellow Lions any day.

"It's always good to have tough competition against other teams, but it's even better from your own team because you have someone to compete against in every workout," he said.

The practices' in between meets have made a difference for Berry this year. Besides setting a couple of pool records, he broke the Penn State record for the 1,000 last month versus Virginia. His 9:19.05 time replaced the 9:20.22 time set last year by none other than Chip Berry. And while the records make for great conversation pieces, he's more concerned with the times, still hoping they get lower and lower.

"A pool record doesn't do me any good unless I make NCAAs," Berry said. "What's important to me is scoring at NCAAs."

Berry is happy to give the swimming program a reason to be recognized, but he credits his improving performances to the leadership of another teammate -- senior tri-captain Lucas Shelly.

"Truthfully, maybe he's not the fastest swimmer, but the leader is Lucas Shelly," Berry said. "He's had a lot of influence on me, always the first one in the water."

Shelly likes having the responsibility of setting a precedent for those who have come after him, like Berry and Reimer.

"Hard work pays off -- that's what I'm trying to instill in them," Shelly said. "Those two really improved and that's fine with me. I've just tried to give them an example to let them know what they can accomplish."

Brown knows how integral a part Shelly is to the team, especially since he's done close to five million yards of work in the pool.

"Lucas has been the mainstay of that whole group," he said. "He's given (Berry and Reimer) the idea for what type of work is necessary."

Shelly said the strides he and his teammates have made in the past few years give him greater optimism for the future.

"I'm very excited about what Penn State swimming has become. Looking at the team now and the team we had when I was a freshman, I'm amazed at the differences," he said. "Chip and George will be swimming with the best in the world. We're going to start being recognized."