Disaster to the tune of 54 to 21 marked the first leg of the weekend double-header scheduled for Coach Hall Ulen's swimmers last night, as they succumbed to a Rutgers powerhouse in the opponent's stronghold, taking only two first places.

This morning the Crimson leaves the unhappy New Brunswick scene for Philadelphia to tackle Pennsylvania at 2 o'clock. A loss here would mean a triple tie for third place in the Eastern Intercollegiate circuit, between the Varsity, Penn and Navy.

The Scarlet started off by turning in a fast 3:04.7 for the 300-yard medley relay, with breast stroker Charlie Gantner setting an impossible pace for his share. Walt Bullard with first, and Jerry Gorman with third, evened things up temporarily in the next 220-yard freestyle.

The best that John Watkins could do in the 50 sprint, however, was a third, Benedict's 23.8 here being out of common Cambridge performance.

Diving Also Falls

Diving, always good for a breather in points as well as time for Ulen's men, found Bob Aaron taking only third, with Ralph Buratti of the New Jerseyans hitting a high of 116.9 points.

Rutgers swept the honors in the backstroke, and against the impregnable Charlie Gantner, Chuck Hoolzer had to puff to take second.

Distance again proved the ally of the Crimson in the 440-yard freestyle, as Forbes Norris and Larry Miner shut out Rutgers for the only such performance of the evening. Norris' time was 5;11.2.

With the meet numerically clinched, the Scarlet put the final nail in the coffin before a happy capacity crowd of home rooters by taking not only the final 400-yard relay, and what adds up to their twenty-second straight victory in dual meet competition.

Despite the assertions of Philadelphian water fans that Penn has their best team in twenty years, they should prove a comparative rest for the Varsity after Rutgers. Navy beat Penn 45 to 30, the same treatment that the Annapolis visitors received at the Indoor Athletic Building.