UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (July 29, 2004) - The Penn State men's and women's swimming and diving team has been hard at work preparing for a promising 2004-05 season, and eight members of the team will continue their training by competing in the 2004 U.S. Swimming Senior Nationals, which will be held Aug. 3-7 on the campus of Stanford University, in Palo Alto, Calif.

Hitting the west coast for the Nittany Lions will be senior Deirdre Dlugonski (Washington, Pa.), senior Jennifer Eberst (Clifton Park, N.Y.), sophomore Claire Hawley (Barnstable, Mass.), junior Chris Ippoliti (Berwyn, Pa.), junior Shawn McLin (Sinking Spring, Pa.), junior Patty Murphy (Medford, N.J.), senior Daryl Northrop (Verona, N.J.) and senior Dustin Thompson (Munster, Ind.).

The eight members of the Penn State swimming team will try to repeat the efforts of former Nittany Lion Eugene Botes, who became Penn State's first ever national champion last season. Botes won the 100 butterfly in 53.20 at the 2003 U.S. Swimming Senior Nationals. He is also the first Penn State male swimmer to qualify for the Summer Olympics, he will swim for South Africa this year.

Dlugonski, who is a three-time Academic All-American, will swim in the 50- and 100-meter freestyles. Eberst will compete in the 100 backstroke, Hawley will swim the 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles and Ippoliti will swim the 100 breaststroke.

McLin is slated to swim in the 100 and 200 backstroke, Murphy will compete in the 1,500 freestyle, Northrop will compete in the 50 and 100 freestyle and Thompson will swim the 200 butterfly and 400 IM.

For more information on Penn State swimming and diving, please visit our official athletic website at www.GoPSUsports.com.