Summer 2008: Patrick has another fantastic summer placing third in the 200 backstroke at the U.S. Open and eighth in both the 100 and 100 back at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
2007-08: Patrick made Penn State history as he became the first swimmer ever to win an individual national championship. The backstroke specialist swam the 200 in 1:41.02 in the prelims and took half a second off in the finals as he touched the wall to claim the crown. He also placed eighth in the 100 back to become a two-time All-American. On his way to the title, Patrick posted another record breaking year with the Nittany Lions. He posted four first place finishes in the 100 back and five in the 200. All of his relay teams finished eighth place or better. In addition, Patrick was a second team All-Big Ten Performer.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Won the 100 and 200 back events at the West Virginia Dual Meet and was on the winning 400 medley relay team...was on the winning 200 medley relay team, recorded the first NCAA Men[apos]s `B[apos] cut of the year winning the 200 back and won the 100 back at the quad meet with Pitt/Md./Mizzou and Nova...finished third in the 800 free relay, placed second in the 400 medley, 200 medley and 400 free relays at the Hoosierland Open Invitational...won the 200 medley relay, won the 200 back, finished first in the 400 medley relay with an NCAA `B[apos] time at the Princeton Big Al Invitational.
Summer 2007: Pat had probably the busiest summer of any member of the men[apos]s swimming team, competing three events in the U.S. and one international meet. First, he placed second in the 200 backstroke and fifth in the 100 back and was also on the sixth place 400 free relay team at the Charlotte Ultraswim. Then, he won the title in the 200 back and also on a pair of first place relays teams - the 400 medley and 800 free - at the Mid-Atlantic Senior Championships. At U.S. Nationals, he finished fifth in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes at U.S. Nationals, which included swimming the fastest time in the prelims in the 200 back. He then wrapped up the summer by swimming at the Japan International Grand Prix in Chiba, Japan, where he finished fourth in the 200 back, the top American finisher in that event at that meet.
2006-07: The only Penn State swimmer to qualify for NCAA[apos]s automatically, Pat swam NCAA `A[apos] times in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes at Big Ten[apos]s, breaking the school records in both events in the process. He also swam NCAA `B[apos] times as part of both medley relay teams. He was named to the All-Big Ten second team after finishing fifth in the 100 back and second in the 200 back at Big Ten[apos]s. He also was on the 400 medley relay team that set a new school record in finishing fifth at Big Ten[apos]s and the 200 medley relay team that also finished fifth. He swam in both backstrokes and the 400 medley relay at NCAAs, finishing 18th in the 200 back. On the year, he finished in the top five in every race he swam in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes except for at NCAAs. He had six individual first place finishes and two first places in relays and also had six total second place finishes and five total third places.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Made his season debut with a strong showing at the Clemson/Virginia/Virginia Tech/Penn State quad-meet as he swept both backstroke events, winning both the 100 and 200 back and he also was a part of the fourth place 400 free and 200 medley relay teams and the third place 400 medley relay team....Had another strong showing at the Purdue Duals as he won the 200 back and finished third in the 100 back and also was on the fifth place 400 free, the third place 200 medley and the second place 400 medley relay team....Picked up points for the Nittany Lions in the 100 back (4th place), 200 back (3rd place, 2nd in the prelims), and as part of the 400 free (6th place) and 400 medley (3rd place) relay teams at the Bell Grand Prix....Was a part of the winning 200 medley relay team in the dual meet vs. West Chester....Won the 200 free and came in fourth in the 100 free in the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Won the 200 back, placed second in the 100 back, eighth in the 200 IM and was on the fourth place 400 free relay team, the first place 800 free relay team and the 200 and 400 medley relay teams that both finished second at the Shamrock Invitational....Finished fifth in the 100 back, second in the 200 back, and was on the fifth place 800 free and the fifth place 200 medley and 400 medley relay teams at Big Ten Championships.
2005-06: Pat was primarily a backstroke specialist but also swam quite a bit in the 100 and 200 freestyle events as well as the 200 IM. He finished seventh in the 200 backstroke and ninth in the 100 backstroke and was on the eighth place 800 freestyle relay team at the Big Ten Championships. He swam his best times of the year in the 100 backstroke and the 200 IM at Big Ten[apos]s. During the season, he won five individual events.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Placed fifth in the 200 IM, second in the 100 back and was on the second place 200 free relay team in the dual meet with Ohio State....Won the 200 back, finished second in the 100 back, seventh in the 200 IM, and was part of the sixth place 200 and 400 medley relay teams and the fifth place 400 free relay team at the Shamrock Invitational....Finished second in the 200 IM at the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Won the 200 free, finished fourth in the 100 free and was on the second place 200 medley relay team in the dual meet vs. St. Bonaventure....Won the 200 back and placed third in both the 100 back and 200 IM in the dual meet with Florida....Picked up points for Penn State in the 100 back (13th place), 200 back (6th place) and as part of the 400 medley relay (5th place), 200 medley relay (10th place), 400 free relay (8th place) and 800 free relay (13th place) teams at the Ohio State Invitational....Finished second in the 100 free in the dual meet with West Chester....Placed fourth in the 100 and 200 back and was on the fourth place 400 free relay team at the Auburn/Purdue/Virginia/Penn State quad meet....Won the 1000 free at the dual meet vs. LaSalle in the only time of the year he swam that event....Won the 200 back, finished third in the 200 IM, and was on the second place 400 medley relay team in his first collegiate meet vs. West Virginia.
High School: Schirk won the 2005 Pennsylvania state title in the 100 backstroke with a time of 48.96. The title-winning mark is an all-time Pennsylvania record. He was also the runner-up in the 200 IM that year. At senior nationals in 2002, he was seventh in the 200 back and 19th in the 100 back. A year later, he was 20th in the 200 back and in 2004 he was 16th as well as placing 15th in the 100 back..
Personal: Schirk enjoys playing Halo 2 and photography. He is the son of Eric and Lori Schirk and has one sister, Elizabeth. Schirk will be majoring in finance at Penn State.
Why I Chose Penn State: 'I came to Penn State because of the strong family bond the team has and the excellent coaching staff.'