The Visiting Swimmers

The seventh of the National Collegiate Swimming Championships, which enters upon its two-day program this afternoon in the formal dedication of the Harvard pool, should be the best intercollegiate affair in the history of the meets, according to Harold S. Uhlen, Crimson swimming coach. "We have taken a lot of pains to get the best teams from all over the country, and we feel that the record-breaking nature of the competition will more than justify our efforts," the Harvard mentor told Time Out yesterday.

The 440-yard free style should be a grand race, with Austin Clapp of Stanford, Ray Ruddy of Columbia, and Garnett Ault of Michigan vying for top honors. Clapp finished third in the 800-meter race at the Olympics, beating Ruddy. But Ruddy loafed through the last 100 yards of the 440 at Yale in 5 minutes, 5 seconds, and Ault has turned in a time 4 seconds less than that. So it should be a battle royal. Shields, of Brigham Young, won the event last year in 4 minutes, 57 4-5 seconds.

The high spot of the evening always seems to be the 100-yard free style, because it is a fight throughout. Schwartz, the Northwestern star who won the race last year in 53 1-5 seconds, should repeat, but he will find stiff competition in Walker of Michigan, Harrison of Stanford, and Stone of Princeton.

Michigan and Northwestern are the strongest in the 200-yard relay. In a recent dual meet, Michigan beat the Purple in the 160 with a new world's relay record for the distance, 1 minute 13 1-5 seconds. The Rutgers relay men, with Kojac, and the Princeton and Stanford teams should be strong contenders also. Kojac is easily the outstanding man in the back stroke, in which he holds the world and intercollegiate records. Second and third places will be fought for by Harris of Fordham, Hinch of Northwestern, Marsh of Minnesota, and Wohl of Syracuse. The latter won the I. S. A. meet at Yale.

The breast stroke should be a real thriller. Moles of Princeton holds the record of 2 minutes 34 3-5 seconds, but Howlett of Northwestern and Peterson are within one second of his time. Burns of Stanford, Engdahl of Syracuse, and Callaban of Columbia will be not far behind the first three. Schwartz seems the most probable candidate to capture the 50-yard free style, with Harrison, Walker and Bosmer of Michigan, and Stone of Princeton fighting it out for the other places.

With Desjardines out of the diving, the field is left open to Lobdell of lowa and Captain Throndson of Stanford. Other likely competitors are Brooks of Princeton; Walter Grandy, who won at the I. S. A. meet; Nappa of Minnesota; and O'Keefe of Michigan. The 220-yard free style should see Schwartz, who has turned in a record time in a short pool, Clapp, Ruddy, and Ault out in front.

Kojac should return winner in the 150-yard medley, but will be hard pressed by Clapp, Peterson of Northwestern, and Harris of Fordham. The 300-yard medley, the last event, should be a toss-up between Michigan, Northwestern, and Stanford, with Columbia, Minnesota, and Princeton fighting if out for fourth place.

Baseball Prospects

Although other university baseball teams have been working out in the open air for one or two weeks already, Harvard's nine has necessarily been confined to work in the cage because of inclement weather conditions. The first game is only a week from tomorrow, however, and although Coach Fred Mitchell doesn't have to trot out a whirlwind aggregation on that date he will have to send out an array of batters and fielders that should at least take Boston University's diamond forces into camp. The real tuning up process will come a few days later when about 25 men will be playing six games in as many days in the sunny south on the annual Spring trip.

As far as the team itself goes the Crimson seems destined to have a nine that will stand right up with the best of competition that the East can offer. With both MacHale and Page back from last year's team and Devens coming up from the Freshman team that beat Yale last Spring and Samborski eligible again after a season on the side lines the pitching staff seems well fortified. Mitchell will have four starting hurlers that he can call upon for duty at any time. The quartet will also be about the hardest hitting pitching staff that Mitchell has gathered together for some time. Because of his exceptional ability to crack the ball Samborski is likely to be used in the outfield while not performing on the mound. The other half of the battery question seems far from being solved, however. Batchelder has just reported after a short rest following the hockey season, and the chances that he will get the call behind the bat on the opening day seem pretty bright. Mitchell has a great array of men from whom to pick his reserve receivers, among whom Rex, who has never reported for baseball before in Harvard, has a slight edge.

Although the other positions on the team are far from decided Coach Mitchell has his starting infield pretty well in mind. Barry Wood is likely to be converted into a first-sacker and take over the place left vacant by the graduation of Prior. Mays is already far ahead of the other contenders for second and he will have Captain Nugent over at short to help him guard the keystone sack. Nugent played second last year and had McGrath as running mate, but McGrath is moving to the outfield and Nugent has shifted over to the shortfield. At third it's a race between Huxtable and Ketchum with the former seemingly having the edge so far. Giving one place in the outfield to the hard hitting McGrath leaves at least 5 other qualified gardeners to battle it out for the other two jobs. Bassett and Ticknor remain from last year and Lupien, hard hitting Sophomore, with Sprague, captain of the 1932 team, have come up from the Freshmen. Then there's Samborski, too. Just what two of these five gardeners will get the call is problematical, but it is likely that they will all break into the games on the Spring trip to show their worth under fire.

Notes on the Natators

There should be an orgy of record-breaking tonight and tomorrow evening, according to the swimmers who tried the pool for the first time yesterday and found conditions especially fast. . . An international flavor is lent to this N. C. A. A. meet by the presence of F. Munroe Bourne, McGill's star swimmer. He has scored six firsts and one second in college competition this year, and is the first Canadian to participate in an American intercollegiate meet. . . Neils Thorpe, who has been swimming coach at Minnesota ever since the sport was established there ten years ago, is banking heavily on his tutees Morse and Nappa tomorrow. Minnesota has been a real power in Western Conference meets for years, and boasts among its products such noted mermen as John Faricy, Murray Lampher, and Jim Hill. Thorpe's outfit has captured the Conference title twice in the last decade, and has been runner up four times. . . Every Western Conference swimming champion will be in attendance this weekend. Notable among those who will seek national titles are Al Schwartz of Northwestern in the 40-yard, 100-yard, and 220-yard swims, Jarnett Ault of Michigan in the 440-yard free style. Dick Hinch and Bob Howlett of Northwestern in the 150-yard back stroke and 200-yard breast stroke respectively, and Lobdell of Iowa in the fancy diving. . . One of the outstanding individual performances from the standpoint of the spectator will be the exhibition fancy diving from the high board by Mickey Riley. It was rumored last evening that he will furnish a sample of his ability along this line tonight as well as tomorrow. BY TIME OUT.