With a wealth of material on hand for what he thinks will be the strongest team in years, Harold Uhlen, Varsity swimming coach, considers his chances of breaking Yale's long string of victories unusually good.
The lettermen who form the nucleus of this year's squad are fortunately spread over a wide field. In the back stroke, there is Captain Bob Fisher and Dick Dorr. The free style division should be exceptionally strong with the return of John Colony, Bob Haskatt, Bill How, and Art Jameson.
While the return of two veteran divers, Walter fits and Bernard Merriam will keep this department intact, there is a dearth of breast strikers, and several of last years' Freshmen will, of necessity, be recruited to support Bert Wolfson, the only returning letterman in this field.
The new crop of sophomores is exceptionally promising, according to uhien. Among the free stylers in this group, are two of particular ability, Charley Hutter and Dario barizzl; while John Bainbridge, George Barker, Raymond Benedict, "Diz" Caldwell, Franklin coleman, and Don McKay are also definite possibilities.
The Yale swimming team, according to Uhlen, has achieved the unparalleled record of not having been beaten in a dual meet in the last thirteen years. This means that Kipputh's men have won 142 straight victories, and it is the Crimson mentor's opinion that it will take a team which is ten percent better than they to overcome the mental handicap.
Yale has a good set of distance men, but for once they will be outclassed in the sprints and specialties, and barring an accident the season should be completed with a clean slate.
Uhlen went on to show why the Japs have of late won all the honors from the Americans. He said that there were two main reasons for this, most important of which was their fanaticism. Nowhere else on earth can boys he made to train as faithfully as do the little Japs.
In the second place, the young Japs mature at least three to four years before the Americans, and for some reason they are stronger through their abdomens. Furthermore, the average height of their crack swimmers is within three inches of six feet; they are not the diminutive Islandars of whom one generally thinks at the mention of the Japanese, but the inhabitants of the northern Isles who enjoy a cooler climate and a more rugged life.
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