For many of its participants, a high school state championship will be the biggest event in their athletic careers.

Sometimes, the atmosphere is overwhelming.

"I was terrified," said Butler diving coach Ken Bedford of his first state meet appearance as a sophomore. "Luckily, my coach, Mick Haley, he was able to get inside my head and calm me down.

"Once I started diving, it was easy to focus."

Many Butler County area competitors will experience the same feelings when they hit the pool for the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

The Class AAA meet will be held Wednesday and Thursday and the Class AA competition will be Friday and Saturday. Both will be held at Bucknell University's Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg.

Bedford will have a rooting interest in two divers: Butler seniors Heath Calhoun and Brittney Grenet.

Calhoun, seeded second in Class AAA boys, will carry his trademark carefree attitude into this year's event.

"Heath doesn't take anything too seriously. That's just the way he is," said Bedford. "I would be more nervous if he was nervous.

"But his approach has gotten him to the state meet three times."

Grenet, ranked seventh, is the opposite of Calhoun.

"Brittney is such a serious kid," Bedford said. "She's all business when she gets on that board, but I'm trying to get her to have fun out there."

The pressure of the state championships is due in large part to the expectations placed on the participants, by themselves and/or their coaches.

But those standards are often clear entering the event.

"Swimming's a different type of sport," said Shady Side Academy girls coach John Landreth, whose state swimmers include Butler County residents Hillary Cummings, Anne Marie Bilott and Tory Bruch. "Swimmers have time goals in mind and they know whether or not they can be successful based on what they're doing in practice.

"Every coach wants to see his kids win at states, but you know what they're capable of going in."

Landreth has two of his relays seeded in the top five in Class AA girls.

The Indians' 200 freestyle quartet, which includes Bruch and Bilott, is ranked fourth.

Cummings and Bilott will be featured on the 200 medley team, which is seeded fifth.

Maggie Gruber of Mars finished second in WPIAL Class AA in the butterfly and is ranked third in the state.

"For Maggie, I am thinking exactly what I was hoping for her at WPIALs, and that is to just do her best," said Planets coach Heidi Brandon.

Gruber also is seeded sixth in the 100 backstroke.

Other top 10 seeds in Class AA include Bilott (sixth in girls 200 individual medley), Mars' Jack Muehlheuser is ninth in the boys backstroke and Grove City's Chris Gregg is 10th in the breaststroke.

Butler Township resident Mark Newell, who swims for Central Catholic, is fifth in the Class AAA boys 500 freestyle and is on the Vikings' seventh-seeded 200 medley relay squad.

For a complete PIAA swimming and diving schedule, visit www.piaa.org