The Comeback Kid
After quitting once at age 11, Stacey surging as team's No. 1 swimman in 50 free

By KATE BLASCHAK
Collegian Sports Writer

His parents made him take lessons. He remembers being less than thrilled. But he caught on quickly and joined a team. By the age of 10, he was one of the top swimmers in his age group in Connecticut.

Freshman Greg Stacey was one of the top swimming recruits for the Nittany Lions. He is the No. 1 50 freestyle swimmer on the team. He recently swam his season-best time in that event (20.99) in the Lions' last dual-meet competition with LaSalle on Saturday.

Stacey said although swimming has brought him success, he has not always enjoyed doing it. He swam from the ages of eight to 11, mostly because it was routine for him.

"I didn't even think whether I really liked doing it or not," he said. "I just did it."

He quit when he was 11 -- he was tired of going to practice every afternoon.

In high school, he made the decision to go back to the sport. He swam during the winter months of his freshman and sophomore years. The following summer, he decided to join a YMCA team.

It was in his junior and senior years that Stacey began to excel. As a senior, he was the Connecticut state and YMCA champion in the 50 free. He also anchored the winning 200 medley relay team at the YMCA nationals and took second in the 100 and 200 free.

Stacey was recruited early by Lion Coach Peter Brown, but he did not show much interest in coming at first. But after visiting State College on a recruiting trip, he changed his mind almost immediately.

"The team is real close, and I also found good academics here," Stacey said. "I could see that I could handle both sports and academics at Penn State."

Stacey has had a tough first year in the pool, but he said he has trained very hard this year --harder than he ever has.

"I haven't really seen the results of my hard work until this past meet," he said, adding that this is a good time in the season to start swimming fast because of the upcoming Big Ten and NCAA championships.

Stacey said he hopes to qualify for NCAAs this year, as well as the Olympic Trials. Although he said he has a good chance of reaching his goals, there is still some doubt in his mind.

But Assistant Coach Kevin DeForrest, who has worked hard with Stacey to build his confidence, said Stacey's chances are as good as they get.

"There is no question in my mind that he'll be at Olympic Trials," DeForrest said.

He added he believes that Stacey, who made the dean's list last semester, will have a great career in every regard at Penn State.

"Penn State is a great place to be a student-athlete," DeForrest said, "and Greg is taking full advantage of that."

Teammate Mike Przywozny agreed -- Stacey's chances are good.

"The training is there," Przywozny said. "If he focuses, he'll definitely make it."

Stacey said it is too soon to tell where he wants to be in the next couple of years. He added that if he has a good career at Penn State, he will try to make another trip to the Olympic Trials after graduation.

Regardless of his future, Stacey said the reason he enjoys swimming now is because it is challenging.

"You work so hard all year, and you receive minimal recognition or benefits," he said. "You know at the end of the season that what you did took a lot of hard work."