Penn State swimming and diving coach Bill Dorenkott is a straight shooter who talks fondly of hard work and team cohesion. He got both of those from this year's team.

Dorenkott, however, has never taken his eyes off the future, a future he sees as limitless for the women's swimming program. But, for Dorenkott, everything begins and ends with the lunch-pail mentality.

So when Dorenkott describes the women's offseason spring workouts as "phenomenal," you tend to believe him.

The Nittany Lions are beginning to believe him too.

"I think the neat thing about being here is that we do want to work," junior-to-be Deidre Dlugonski said. "You have to have faith [the work] will pay off in the end."

So, just two weeks after one of the more successful seasons in women's swimming history, the team was back in the pool, with no rest for the weary.

"I've been coaching long enough to know that the commitment this spring is going to translate into success in the future," Dorenkott said.

That commitment has and will include 10 workouts a week, between four and five hours per day through the rest of the summer. With 18 to 20 of the swimmers staying to partake in these workouts, the Lions will surely be putting the two aforementioned traits to the test.

Breaking up these workouts will be four meets that the Lions will attend, including a meet at McCoy Natatorium at the end of June and their biggest meet, U.S. Nationals, Aug. 5-9 in College Park, Md.

The diving team, meanwhile, will take a little different path this summer. The Lion divers have worked on very targeted skill work this spring, and after finals will begin to prepare for Senior Nationals in Indianapolis in late June. From there they will work to sure up their dives and get them ready for the season.

However, despite the appeal of summer relaxation, motivation, according to Penn State diving coach Craig Brown, will not be a problem.

"One of the things these kids realize is the special nature of being in a Big Ten Championship," Brown said. "I don't think any of them want to be left home from Big Tens so it's not real hard to motivate them to work hard over the summer."

With anything however, one needs to see results to keep motivated. In swimming, which can be frustrating at times, that is not always the case. It's all about understanding the process it takes to succeed for the Lions.

"You invest early and you wait a long time for [the work] to pay any dividends," Brown said.

With a Big Ten Championship two years ago and a pool of talent that includes Big Ten Freshman of the Year Amberle Biedermann and diver Lisa Silvestri returning next year, the dividends are beginning to show.

Just don't tell Dorenkott that.

"I'm hoping we can get to a point where success gets boring," Dorenkott said. "Everything can get taken up another notch, and that is what we're looking for."

Lunch pail in hand, of course.