If you don't succeed, try again.

That's the philosophy behind the women's swimming team's meet this weekend.

The Nittany Lions will host the Penn State Invitational tomorrow at McCoy Natatorium in order to provide swimmers with a final opportunity to make qualifying times for national events.

The meet will compress a three-day schedule into three sessions at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. It will also offer an additional session at 6 p.m. for all athletes who fail to make qualifying times earlier in the day.

"What typically happens after the various conference meets in this part of the country, a lot of the athletes are very close," Penn State women's swimming coach Bill Dorenkott said. "They've all been calling the last few days and asking if they can come. We're never really sure who's going to show up."

This year, aside from Penn State, the field includes swimmers from Pittsburgh, Frostburg State, Salem-International, West Virgina, West Virginia Wesleyan and Westminster College. For the most part, the athletes are coming to concentrate on one or two events and take one last shot at making the cut for the NCAA championships, which will be held March 15-17.

"It's not the first thing you want to do when you're coming off an emotional meet like Big Tens," Dorenkott said. "But after the fact, you feel good about getting out there and giving it another shot."

In fact, in the event's three-year history, swimmers have not only qualified for NCAAs, but also for other competitions.

"We've probably had five senior national, one NCAA, and one Olympic trial cut," Dorenkott said. "If we put up 100 swims this weekend, and one or two achieve cuts, in my mind it's worth it."

For example, senior Megan Smith took advantage of the meet's laid back atmosphere last year to meet the qualifying time for the Olympic Trials in the 100 butterfly.

"It's not as much pressure, and you can just relax about the race," Smith said. "It's an extra week of rest. Everything comes together."

Although Smith already made this year's NCAA cut, senior Christina Stocki is still looking to qualify.

"I got a little nervous," she said of Big Tens, where she met the required time last year. "Being a senior and leading the team, I felt I had to fulfill these roles. I was a mess on the first day."

Therefore, Stocki hopes the atmosphere of this weekend's meet will help her achieve her goal.

"I think I'm ready to have fun," she said. "The Big Tens are a pressure meet. Now we're carrying our taper, and we're going to be at home, so having the fans will help."