The more times a steel blade is thrust into fire the harder it is going to get, and once it is hard enough the imperfections are refined and sharpened in preparation for battle.

That's the way Penn State swimming and diving coach Bill Dorenkott sees the 2002-03 version of the Nittany Lions.

The Lions have spent the regular season "in the fire," and the intense preparation has been aimed at optimum performance for doing battle with conference and national opponents in the Big Ten and NCAA Championships. Over the past several weeks, the team has geared down its training to rest and sharpen itself for the Big Ten Championships taking place today, tomorrow and Saturday at the University of Michigan's Canham Natatorium.

For the Lions to remain as one of the conference's powers, like they have been the past five years, they will need to be more focused and competitive than they have been all season. Bringing home a conference championship will not be a task for the weak of heart.

Heading into this year's Championships, the Big Ten is loaded with six of the nation's top 25 teams: No. 4 Michigan, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 17 Penn State, No. 22 Indiana and No. 24 Purdue.

Last year the Lions finished third behind champion Minnesota and Michigan. Dorenkott doesn't envision the top two places being captured by anyone other than the conference's two premiere swimming programs.

"Minnesota will win the meet, Michigan will be second, then it's going to be a dogfight from third to sixth," Dorenkott said.

Anyone would be hard-pressed to disagree with Dorenkott's statement, even Lion swimmers.

"I would have to say Minnesota is still probably the favorite," senior swimmer Matt Haupt said.

If the Lions are to repeat a top-three finish, which is something they have been able to continue to do since the 1998 season, then they will need to rely on the leadership and experience of their upperclassmen.

"I think the older swimmers have taken it upon themselves to help the younger swimmers because of nerves," Haupt said. "You can never really tell with the younger guys, so I would say Todd Minnier, Gene Botes and Jaffrey Clark will be the type of guys to lead us."

There are several returning record-setters from last year's championships in Bloomington, Ind. Eugene Botes, Todd Minnier and John Lutz were part of the team that set a Big Ten Championship record with a time of 1:18.69 in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Botes and Minnier were also on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that set a Big Ten Championship record by swimming a time of 2:53.68.

A conference championship is the type of meet where the more times a swimmer has experienced it, by being in the heat of battle, the more beneficial it's going to be during the meet.

"Our upper-class guys have been there and done it," Dorenkott said. "My expectations are to see where we are as a program.

"We are going to put our best out there and pick up the chips when we are done."

The outlook of the season has been very positive and there should be no reason for a change this coming weekend.

"I think we'll finish in the top three," Haupt said.

"We're a little bit weaker than we've been, but we'll step up to the challenge."

Stepping up to the challenge is all one can and would expect from a team that has been put in the fire time after time this season.