Case Western Reserve University women's swimmer Alicia Kendig has earned All-American honors two straight years in a row-with a chance to make it four.

Not bad considering Kendig, from Lancaster, Pa., didn't think she would go the distance.

"Coming here, swimming has taken a positive turn for me," Kendig said. "I thought I was only going to swim one or two years and then concentrate on my studies. Now I am saying I have less than two years left to swim. I'm going to miss it, and right now I'm loving it."

Kendig, who has already qualified for the 2003 NCAA championships this year as a junior, earned All-American honors in all three freestyle relays and in the 500- and 1,650-freestyle as a sophomore. She earned All-American honors during her freshman year as a member of the 800-freestyle relay team. So is she thinking four-peat?

"I do think about it," Kendig said. "I am a nervous competitor, and I always try to remain positive about it. But my nerves certainly creep up on me. If I don't reach it again, I still have a good experience to look back on."

Those nerves haven't surfaced in Kendig or Head Coach Todd Clark's teams during the last two years. In 2001, the Spartans as a team finished a school best 7th in the nation, and a year ago (2002) they placed 17th.

"The way this team comes together at the end of the year is unbelievable," Kendig said. "We are a team throughout the year, but in the end the energy of the team is just unbelievable."

Kendig, a Hempfield High School graduate, is majoring in nutrition at CWRU and is leaning towards pediatrics as her venue. Upon graduation next May, she will be a registered dietitian. She currently volunteers on the cancer floor at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital once a week for three hours. It's a nice break from athletics and academics.

"I just like working and playing with little kids, and with swimming and athletics, nutrition has always been a big part of my life," she said.

Her parents, Karen and James Kendig, make the six-hour trek one way from Lancaster, which is located an hour outside of Philadelphia, quite frequently to watch the youngest of their three children swim. Road trips are nothing new to them. Kendig's older brother Tim swam at Carnegie Mellon University, and her older brother Jamie is currently swimming at Washington & Jefferson College.

So they must be sick of the swimming, or a least the chlorine smell, right?

"I tease my dad all the time, but if they didn't like it, I don't think they would drive six hours to watch it," Kendig said.

Kendig likes to be in the water. She said it's her sanctuary. If you happen to be down by the Veale Natatorium around finals, you might catch her swimming laps to relieve stress or just floating around pondering the four basic food groups.

"Not only does it wake me up, it calms me," Kendig said. "If I had to sit in my room before an exam, I would probably go nuts."

Both Kendig and her teammates do a little chant, called the "Spartan Chicks Cheer," prior to each meet as a ritual of sorts. It goes like this "C-h-i-c-k-s Spartans chicks are the best."

"The guys team really makes fun of us because it's so simple and because we do it so often, but it really gets me focused and together at the big meets," she said.

Well, no one is making fun of Kendig in the water, where she is one of the best.

UAA & NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS—The CWRU swimming teams have one more dual meet (Feb. 1 @ Wittenberg University) remaining before they host the 2003 University Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships for the first time in school history. The event will take place in the newly renovated Veale Natatorium February 13 through February 15.

In between the UAAs and the 2003 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships, the Spartans will host the Veale Invitational on February 22.

The NCAA Championships for the women are March 13-15 and the men compete March 20-22 at Emory University in Atlanta.