Swimmen drown Dukes, stay perfect

Lions benefit from trip to Florida; tougher tests loom on Big Ten horizon.

In one word, the entire winter break for the Penn State swimmers was "productive."

Penn State men's swimming coach Peter Brown said that of a semester break in which the swimmers were bussed to Venice, Fla. Once there, the swimmers used the time away from cold Penn State and the arduous task of studying to focus on swimming and staying in shape.

"We got some good work done," said Brown. "It was a successful trip."

Brown was successful in keeping his athletes in shape, as they had 21 practices in 11 days.

"The training took its toll on a lot of guys, including myself," freshman Jason Pollock said.

After staying in Florida for 11 days, the Penn State bus made its way back to State College. However, there was one stop on the way -- Harrisonburg, Va., to face James Madison in a meet.

Penn State crushed James Madison 143-80 and improved its undefeated record to 5-0. The meet was marked by strong individual performances. Sophomore Paul Monyok set a pool record of 9:30.9 in the 1000-meter freestyle, co-captain Steve Medei had personal bests and senior Greg Stacey had a strong showing in every event he swam.

Aside from individual performances, Penn State meshed well together as a team. The 200 meter freestyle relay team of Pollock, Stacey, Dan Okoniewski and Brian Hostetler set another James Madison pool record.

Penn State's undefeated start is a strong beginning, but the swimmers will face formidable opponents such as Purdue, Northwestern and Michigan State in the weeks to come.

Michigan State will be the first when Penn State travels to East Lansing, Mich., to face the Spartans on Friday.

Just a day after the Michigan State meet, Penn State will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face Purdue.

If Penn State comes out of its road trip undefeated, it will give new meaning to the word "productive" for Brown.