Three more years to shine for swimmer Molettiere

By LAUREN KOCUR
Collegian Staff Writer

Bob Molettiere is a member of the first Penn State men's swimming and diving team to win the Big Ten Championships -- the first team to break the team record of 9-1 with a 10-1 regular-season mark -- and he was the only individual winner at Big Tens for Penn State.

Oh, and he still has three years left.

More impressively, the Nittany Lions freshman had only started seriously training during his sophomore year at Souderton High School.

Coming from a long line of swimmers, Molettiere and his sister Laura both took to the sport like fish to water. His father's side of the family all swam competitively. In fact, one of his father's cousins, Tony Bartle, was supposed to swim for the 1980 U.S. National Team at the Olympics in Moscow. That, of course, was the year the U.S. boycotted the games, thereby forfeiting Bartle's chance for glory.

Although his cousin did not achieve the fame he desired, Molettiere might go on to bigger and better things. As things stand now, he is breaking school records left and right, most recently toppling the old school record for the 100-yard freestyle of 44.26 seconds with a time of 43.91 on the second day of Big Ten Championships competition two weeks ago. That time qualified him for the NCAA Championships B-time, and he also qualified for the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.

"After I got the first day out of the way I was ready to go and I knew what I had to do," he said of his Big Ten performance. "The race was against the kid from Minnesota who won the 50-yard freestyle, so I knew he was fast and I knew I had to go as fast as I can. And that was enough."

Molettiere's training with coach Peter Brown had a lot of influence on his ability to swim as well as he has.

"My coach in high school knew me really well, he was my coach from seventh-grade until my senior year," Molettiere said. "But when I came here, Pete was an incredible coach and he knew exactly what had to be done. It's so specific when you get to college rather than in high school. It's a lot better."

This was one emotion shared by the entire team. Everyone was excited for Brown when he was awarded the Big Ten Coach of the Year; they all felt he deserved it. Brown's antics on the bench and at practice led the team to its championship run.

"It didn't surprise me that (Molettiere) did well," Brown said about the freshman's performance at Big Tens. "Some of the best guys in the country come in here and struggle. He's got it in him to do well.

"When he wants to get after something he does it," Brown said. "He's real confident and doesn't shirk responsibility. He's very mature for a freshman in a number of ways. He's got his wits about him."

Other than the pressure of swimming at a big meet like Big Tens, there is little difference between the experienced seniors and newer freshmen on the team.

"Everybody's on the same level," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're a freshman and the worst swimmer on the team, you're the same, which is incredible. A lot of the time, a lot of college teams just go by who's the best and who the seniors are -- it's not at all like that here. Everybody's equal, and that's it."

While there are typical freshman duties like setting up the lane lines, Molettiere realizes this comes with the territory, and is thrilled with that being the only allusion to rank.

The team unity and proximity to his home and family were key factors in his choice of college. Because of his stellar record in high school, the Souderton native could have gone anywhere he wanted. Penn State was just perfect for his needs. His decision was narrowed down to Ohio State and Penn State, but when he began to weigh the pros and cons of both schools, Penn State won out. Laura Molettiere's is a member of the Lady Lions swim team, and helped make her brother's transition from high school to college an easier one.

Molettiere comes from a very close family. His parents have come to Penn State for every home meet to watch their son swim. He also supports and is supported by his sister, both of whom swam throughout their childhood and on the same team in high school.

Being on the same team allowed the pair to become closer.

"He's like my best friend," Laura said. "I know I have a bit of a biased view, but he's a great kid. He works so hard for everything. He completely deserves everything that he's accomplished."

Laura also provides a good look at what Molettiere was like before he started to shine.

"There was this one time, in a summer league," she said. "He must have been about 7 and the biggest kid in the age bracket. He swam very well, but he was afraid to dive in. There would be races where he would just jump in the water and start swimming and still win the race."

With some pointers on how to dive, Molettiere's swimming career skyrocketed and landed him at Penn State.

"I looked at a lot of other schools with really good programs, but I wanted to be part of a team, and not just be a person and swim, and that's what Penn State's about," he said. "Everybody wants to be there and they all want to work hard because they all want to get better."

The respect on the team goes both ways. Molettiere respects his teammates, and his teammates respect him. He is looked upon as a leader and an encouragement.

"He's a great guy. He's a leader by example being a freshman and all," swimmer John Retrum said. "He does it quietly, but he does it well. We all watch him; he's a stud. I'm glad to have him on the team."