Seven swimmen splash into NCAAs

A long, grueling six-month season now comes down to a single competition.

Seven members of the Penn State men's swimming and diving team will compete in the NCAA Championships beginning this afternoon in Auburn, Ga. The competition will last three days and is the pinnacle of the lengthy swimming and diving season.

The Lions will send four swimmers and three divers to the championships. Greg Stacey, Dan Okoniewski, Hogan Thomas and Brian Hostetler will compete in the 200-yard freestyle relay and are a talented bunch expected to do some damage.

Stacey, the lone senior on the team, will be going to the championships for the first time of his collegiate career.

"I don't know what to expect, but I know we're going to try our best out there," Stacey said.

Stacey sports a 20.1 seconds 50-yard freestyle time -- the quickest time of the four swimmers. Although his time is very solid among the collegiate ranks, Stacey hopes to shrink his time even further.

"My goal is to break the 20-second barrier and land somewhere in the 19-second range," Stacey said.

Okoniewski, a junior, is next in line for the relay team and is one of the Lions' top sprinters who floats around the 20-second mark also. Okoniewski is a versatile swimmer who performs well in the backstroke and butterfly as well.

Following Stacey and Okoniewski are freshmen Thomas and Hostetler. Thomas was the 1997 Oklahoma Swimmer of the Year and Hostetler was the 1997 Pennsylvania State Champion in the 100-yard freestyle.

Three divers -- seniors Seth Kane and Drew Jackson and sophomore Chris Alderman -- will also be competing at the championships.

Kane is a quick diver who employs many twists and spins into his dives. Diving coach Craig Brown said Kane's dives are very difficult and if they are performed cleanly he could come away near the top of the standings.

"Seth is the trickster of the team," Jackson said.

Jackson will be making his fourth trip to the championships and is coming off of a 20th-place finish last year. He said he hopes for a top-16 finish this year, but does not plan on changing his approach.

"I'm going to try and keep the same plan and to stay fresh," Jackson said.

Alderman, a transfer from North Carolina, is a consistent diver and is known for his workhorse attitude.

"Alderman is really young, but he's a great competitor," Brown said.

Kane and Jackson are both coming off minor injuries that should not be huge factors. Kane recently strained his neck and Jackson has mild tendonitis in his shoulder -- both should be ready to go with full force, though.

Penn State diving will face stiff competition from many schools, but the two programs expected to be extremely tough are Miami and Indiana. Both schools have more than one diver who could dominate.

Despite hefty competition, Brown remained calm and laid back.

"We'll let the chips fall," Brown said. "We're just going to try our best and be very sharp out there."

Sounds like a plan.