David Kraft Class: Graduated Hometown: Vienna, Va. High School: Home Schooled Position: Free/IM Experience: SR

Summer 2008: David placed 21st in the 1500 freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials.

2007-08: Once again David put up great times for Penn State earning points at the Big Ten Championships in 1650 freestyle with an 11th place finish. Earlier in the year he shaved over two seconds off his 500 freestyle time at the Princeton Invitational for a second place finish and later went on to win the event in Florida. David returned to the NCAA Championships in the 1650 free with a "B" qualifying time he earned at the Hoosierland Open Invitational. He added to his first place collection winning the 1650 freestyle at the Princeton Big Al Invitational and honed his 400 IM skills to five Top 20 finishes at bigger meets before the Big Ten Championships.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Won the 1000 freestyle at the West Virginia Dual Meet...placed third in the 1000 freestyle at the quad meet...finished eighth in the 500 free, placed third in the 1650 free earning an NCAA `B' time at the Hoosierland Open Invitational...placed second in the 500 free at the Princeton Big Al Invitational

Summer 2007: David had a very good summer, swimming in three meets. He finished 15th in the 400-meter freestyle and fifth in the 1500-meter free at the Charlotte Ultraswim. In a busy Mid-Atlantic Senior Championships for him, he finished seventh in the 200 free, eighth in the 400 IM, and was on the winning 800 free relay team. He then finished the summer by finishing 23rd in the 800-meter freestyle and 18th in the 1500-meter free at U.S. Nationals.

2006-07: David put in one of the biggest swims of his career at the 1650 freestyle at Big Ten Championships, lowering his previous career best by almost 20 seconds in finishing 10th to pick up points for Penn State and swimming an NCAA `B' time. He also swam in both the 500 free and 400 IM at Big Ten's and set career bests in both of those events as well. He won three races on the year and also had one second place finish and five third place finishes. He had the second-fastest time on the team in the 1650 free, the third-best in the 1000 free and the fifth-best in the 500 free. He also had the fourth-best in the 400 IM.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Opened the season strong with a first place finish in the 1000 free and also placed third in the 500 free at the dual meet at West Virginia....Placed third in the 1000 free and seventh in the 500 free at the Clemson/Virginia/Virginia Tech/Penn State quad-meet....Swam his fastest times of the year in the 500 and 1000 free, placing third in the 500 and second in the 1000 in what was also his career fastest time at the Purdue Duals....Picked up points for Penn State in the 400-meter free (16th place), the 1500-meter free (5th place) and also swam in the 400 IM at the Bell Grand Prix....Placed third in the 200 IM in the dual meet vs. West Chester....Won the 1000 free and finished third in the 200 IM in the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Had a strong meet at the Shamrock Invitational as he won the 1650 free and placed 10th in the 400 IM and 11th in the 500 free....Picked up points for Penn State with a 10th place finish in the 1650 free at Big Ten Championships and also placed 20th in the 400 IM.

2005-06: David was one of Penn State's top distance freestyle swimmers as a freshman, swimming in mainly the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle events. He also saw quite a bit of time in the 400 IM. At the Big Ten Championships, he swam the 500 free and finished 16th in the 1650 free to pick up a point for the Nittany Lions. He also finished just one spot out of the points in the 400 IM while swimming his best time in that event, knocking over six seconds off his previous best time. He also swam his best times in both the 500 and 1650 free at Big Ten's. On the year, he won three individual events and also had five second place finishes.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Finished second in the 1000 free and fourth in the 500 free at the dual meet vs. Ohio State....Placed second in the 500 free at the dual meet vs. Kenyon....Won the 1650 free and finished third in the 500 free at the Shamrock Invitational....Won the 1000 free and placed second in the 500 free at the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Finished second in the 200 free in the dual meet vs. St. Bonaventure, the only time during the year that he swam in that event....Placed fourth in the 1000 free and third in the 500 free at the dual meet vs. Florida....Picked up points for the Nittany Lions in the 500 free (15th place) and the 1650 free (4th place) at the Ohio State Invitational....Finished with the second fastest time in the 500 free with dual meet vs. West Chester while swimming as an exhibition....Placed fourth in the 1000 free at the Auburn/Purdue/Virginia/Penn State quad meet....Won the 500 free and finished second in the 1000 free in his first collegiate meet, the dual meet vs. West Virginia.

High School: Kraft, home schooled, swam for the Potomac Marlins Swim Club and head coach Bill Marlin. He was a member of the 2004 and 2005 Spring Junior National Teams. In 2004, he placed seventh in the 400 IM in a time of 4:01.23.

Personal: David enjoys singing and playing the guitar. He is the son of Mary Jeane and James Kraft. David has two brothers, Tom and Stepne, and a sister, Jan.

Why I chose Penn State: "The coaching staff, campus and academic reputation of Penn State were the main reasons I chose PSU."