Summer 2008: Dito was one of 20 Nittany Lions at the U.S. Olympic Trials this Summer in Omaha, Neb. Competing in the 1500-meter freestyle, Dito placed 37th with a time of 15:46.29.
2007-08: Dito really hit his stride in his junior season continuing his work in distance freestyle events and the 400 IM. He marked his name in the Penn State record book as fourth all-time in the 1000-yard freestyle and seventh all-time in the 1650-yard freestyle. In addition to swimming the top 400-yard IM time for the year, he took over the sixth all-time spot and improved his time from last season by nearly a full second. Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Placed first in the 1000 free at the West Virginia Dual Meet and in the 500 free against West Chester...placed fourth in the 400 IM at the quad meet...finished fourth in the 1650 free at the Hoosierland Open Invitational...collected points in the Big Ten Championships with a 13th place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle.
Summer 2007: Dito kept busy over the summer by swimming in three meets. He swam in the 400 and 800-mter freestyle, the 200 butterfly and the 400 IM at the Charlotte Ultraswim. He then placed 11th in the 400 IM and also swam in the 200 IM and 100 fly at Mid-Atlantic Senior Championships. He wrapped up the summer by placing 26th in the 1500-meter free at U.S. Nationals.
2006-07: Dito specialized in the distance freestyle events and the 400 IM as his other main event once again as a sophomore. He scored points in the 400 IM at Big Ten[apos]s for the second straight year, finishing 15th. He also swam a bit in the 200 butterfly this year and his best finish of the year was a second place finish in that event. He also had one overall third place finish and four fourth place finishes. He had the fastest time on the year during the year in the 400 IM and the fourth fastest in both the 1000 and 1650 freestyle.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Placed fourth in the 500 free, fifth in the 1000 free and fourth in the 200 fly at the season-opening meet at West Virginia....Placed ninth in the 400 IM at the Clemson/Virginia/Virginia Tech/Penn State quad-meet....Finished fourth in the 500 free, third in the 1000 free and eighth in the 400 IM at the Purdue Duals....Picked up points for Penn State in the 400-meter free (13th place) and in the 1500-meter free (8th place) and also swam in the 400 IM at the Bell Grand Prix....Came in fourth in the 200 IM in his only swim of the year in that event at the dual meet vs. West Chester....Finished second in the 200 fly in the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Placed seventh in the 1650 free and third in the 400 IM at the Shamrock Invitational, swimming his fastest times of the year in both events....Scored points with a 15th place finish in the 400 IM and also finished 21st in the 1650 free at Big Ten Championships.
2005-06: Daniel was one of the main distance swimmers on the Nittany Lion roster last year, as he saw lots of time competing in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle events. He gave himself some momentum going into his sophomore season as he peaked at the end of the year, swimming his fastest times in each of his three main events, the 500, 400 IM and 1650 freestyle, at the Big Ten Championships. He improved his previous best time in the 500 free by over five seconds and lowered his best time in the 1650 free by over 14 seconds. He also was one of Penn State[apos]s main swimmers in the 400 IM, and he swam his best time of the year in that event at Big Ten[apos]s as well, placing 12th in that event. He won one individual event and was on one first place relay team during the year.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Finished fourth in the 1000 free and third in the 500 free at the dual meet with Ohio State....Placed fifth in the 400 IM and the 500 free at the dual meet vs. Kenyon....Came in seventh in the 400 IM and sixth in the 1650 freestyle at the Shamrock Invitational....Finished fourth in the 100 free and second in the 200 fly at the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Finished sixth in the 1000 free and second in the 500 free at the dual meet vs. Florida....Picked up points for Penn State in the 400 IM (16th place), 1650 free (6th place) and 200 fly (16th place) at the Ohio State Invitational....Won the 1000 free at the dual meet with West Chester....Placed sixth in the 400 IM at the Auburn/Purdue/Virginia/Penn State quad meet....Was on the first place 400 free relay team at the dual meet vs. LaSalle.
High School: Calderon swam at Eleanor Roosevelt High School for coach Julian Lord and for the Maryland Suburban Swim Club and coach John Mason. He placed 34th at Junior Nationals in 2005 in the 1500, 33rd in the 800, 44th in the 400 and 30th in the 400 IM.
Personal: Daniel lists music, movies and watching and playing sports as his hobbies. An outstanding student, Calderon is the recipient of the Bunton-Waller Fellows scholarship, the College of Engineering scholarship and graduated from high school with a 3.99 GPA. He is majoring in mechanical engineering at Penn State.
Why I chose Penn State: 'The discipline and future of the program and the overall academic reputation of the university are the main reasons I chose Penn State.'