Treading water

Senior swimwomen bid farewell to Penn State

Four years ago Tiffany Crandell, Kim Kephart, Erika Georgs, Wendy Rowe, Kristi Swix and Karen Van Tassel all said hello to the Penn State women's swimming and diving team as wide-eyed freshmen. Tomorrow they say goodbye.

For these six Penn State seniors tomorrow's dual meet against Villanova and Brown at noon will be their last home meet, as they will be honored on senior day. But before the seniors say goodbye to the confines of McCoy Natatorium, they will have to deal with the Bears and Wildcats.

"Brown has had a very good year," Penn State coach Bob Krimmel said. "I expect them to rise to the occasion."

Brown is the defending Ivy League co-champion along with Princeton, while Villanova is the defending Big East champion. Krimmel said the problem with facing both teams is that his team cannot focus on just one of them. It must focus on both.

This meet will help the Lady Lions get in tune for the all-important Big Ten championships in two weeks at Indiana, which will be the apex of their team season. With Big Tens looming on the horizon there may be some lineup shuffling tomorrow for the Lady Lions to help them prepared for the championships.

"We want to win," Krimmel said. "But within our lineup we may have to do some things that will get us ready for Big Tens."

And injuries, as they have all season, will play a big part of the Lions' preparation. But this time it will involve the partial return of several team members. Rowe will swim but only in one event, while Krimmel said junior Liz Rossi has practiced this week but may not swim.

"The kids will just have to step it up and perform like they did against Indiana," Krimmel said.

There will be an interesting twist to this meet: The men will be swimming against Brown and Villanova at the same time as the women. The two teams will take turns, alternating events, something that hasn't been tried in quite a few years.

Krimmel said it should provide "quite a change of pace."

As for the departure of his seniors, Krimmel said they will be missed.

"This group contributed as freshmen, and they've contributed as seniors," he said.

"They've stood the test of time, and I'm gonna miss them."