Chris Sullivan Class: Graduated Hometown: Naples, Fla. High School: So. Naples Position: Free Experience: SR

Summer 2008: Chris placed 38th in the 1500 freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

2007-08: Chris has developed into one of the most well rounded swimmers on the squad. Excelling in distance events as well as shorter medlies, he is one of the top returners this year. Chris earned points for the Nittany Lions at the Big Ten Championships in the 1650 freestyle event in which he placed 14th. In the 500 free, he collected Top 10 finished leading to the Big Ten's and got his first career first place finish against West Virginia. Chris swam his career best in the 200 free at the Hoosierland Open invitational loweing his time by nearly a full second. He also set a new career low in the 400 IM. Chris is the all-time record holder for the 1000 and 1650-meter freestyle events. In addition, he earned All-Academic Big Ten honors.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Won the 500 free at the West Virginia dual meet...finished fourth in the 500 free and fifth in the 1650 free at the Hoosierland Open Invitational...placed fourth in the 500 free at the Princeton Big Al Invitational.

Summer 2007: Chris participated in two meets over the summer season. He swam in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle as well as the 200 butterfly at the Charlotte Ultraswim of the Grand Prix series. He then swam at U.S. Nationals, taking part in the 400-meter and 1500-meter free.

2006-07: After a freshman season interrupted and cut short by illness, Chris showcased his potential as he made his first NCAA appearance and swam in the 1650 freestyle after finishing sixth in that event at the Big Ten Championships with an NCAA `B' qualifying time. He was less than six seconds off the NCAA `A' automatic qualifying time and easily set his career best time and beat his previous best time in the 1650 by nearly 30 seconds at Big Ten's. He also set a school record in both the 1650 free and 1000 free with his swim at Big Ten's. He finished 22nd in the 1650 at NCAAs. He had the top times on the team during the year in both the 1650 and 1000 free and the second fastest in the 500 free. His best finish of the year was a second place finish and he also had two third places and a fourth place. He swam his fastest career times in the 500, 1000 and 1650 free.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Was on the fifth place 400 free relay team and also placed fifth in the 500 free at the first dual meet of the year at West Virginia....Finished seventh in the 1000 free at the Clemson/Virginia/Virginia Tech/Penn State quad-meet....Placed fifth in both the 500 and 1000 free at the Purdue Duals....Picked up points for Penn State in the 400-meter free (12th place, 10th in the prelims), 800-meter free (5th place) and 1500-meter free (3rd place) at the Bell Grand Prix....Came in third in the 200 free in his only swim of the year in that event at the dual meet vs. West Chester....Finished second in the 1000 free in the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Placed eighth in the 500 free and fourth in the 1650 free at the Shamrock Invitational....Finished sixth in the 1650 free to beat his previous best time by nearly 30 seconds at Big Ten Championships.

2005-06: Chris was a distance swimmer, seeing most of his time in the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyle events, but he also saw time in the 200 freestyle. At Big Ten's he participated in the 500 free, 200 free and 1650 free, swimming his best times in both the 200, 500 and the 1650. In the 1650, he beat his previous best time by nearly 33 seconds and in the 200, knocked over four seconds off his best time.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Finished seventh in the 1000 free and fourth in the 500 free at the dual meet vs. Florida....PIcked up points for Penn State with a 12th place finish in the 1650 free at the Ohio State Invitational....Placed sixth in the 500 free and was the top finisher in that event and also came in seventh in the 1000 free at the Auburn/Purdue/Virginia/Penn State quad meet....Was on the third place 400 medley relay team at the dual meet vs. LaSalle....Finished third in the 1000 free and fourth in the 500 free at his first collegiate meet, the dual meet vs. West Virginia.

High School: Chris earned four varsity letters at Naples High School and was also a team captain for two years. He was the four-time Naples Daily News Swimmer of the Year and a four-time team MVP. The recipient of the school's Scholar-Athlete Award, he was also a USA Swimming scholar-athlete All-American three times and twice was named an NISCA All-American. He helped lead his team to a district championship during his junior season.

Personal: Chris was born on November 8, 1986 in Mineola, N.Y. He is the son of Daryl and JoAnn Sullivan. Both of his parents swam collegiately at St. John's and his father is currently a swim coach. He has one younger brother, Paul. Chris is majoring in finance and accounting and hopes to become a lawyer or go on to get his MBA. He lists surfing, skimboarding, and basketball as hobbies.

Why I Chose Penn State: "Penn State has an excellent balance of athletics and academics and is a premier university for student-athletes."