It's an Olympic Year, and if there were a pot-bellied stove in the lobby of the indoor Athletic Building, it's likely that old Harvard men would be sitting there discussing the good old times, past Olympic years.

And if they were, it's more than likely that sometime in the conversation the old Charlie Hutter story would come up, a story that began with the Olympics of 1936, the Olympics held in Berlin, Germany.

Charlie Hutter was 19 years old in 1937, a sophomore who had already set Harvard swimming records in the 220 and 50 yard freestyle. Harvard's young director of athletics, Bill Bingham, headed the Olympic Committee that year, and his rival at Yale, Bob Kiphuth, had been selected as coach of the Olympic swimming team.

There was only one man in the country who was considered superior to Hutter, and he was Kiphuth's protege, Johnny Macionis. Both Hutter and Macionis were taken to Germany that year. But when Kiphuth was called upon to make the final choice for his relay team, for some unexplained reason, he left Hutter out.

As the story goes, both Bingham and Hutter were upset, Bingham incensed, Hutter disappointed. And just before the relay race began, Hutter walked over to Kiphuth. Speaking in a mild but firm tone he told the Yale coach that someday he would prove to him that he had done the wrong thing, someday he would prove to him that he should have been on that team.

Japan Won

Well, the United States lost the relay to Japan by a little over a body length, and the story does not pick up again until the following fall. Hutter had been elected captain of the Harvard team and Marcionis captain of Yale, and as the swimming season progressed, it became obvious that the two rival schools had the top teams in the nation.

Going into the Harvard meet, Yale, like today, had run up a long record of consecutive wins--this time it was 163 victories. And, of course, Harvard was the underdog.

The Blockhouse was packed when the two teams started, and as event after event slipped by, Harvard's chances grew. A slight Harvard margin was expected to be wiped out in the longer events, and the meet was considered to be hanging on the relay.

Surprise Match

But when the loudspeaker blared out the entries for the 440 freestyle, a roar bounced off the walls of the room. Charlie Hutter was going to swim against Johnny Marciones instead of waiting for the relay.

The two men mounted the mark, and just before the start, Hutter glanced over at Kiphuth, with determination in his eyes. The whistle blew and the two men hit the water together. Stroke for stroke they matched each other up and down the pool.

As they turned for the final lap, Hutter gained a slight edge, an advantage he opened up to win the race and the match for Harvard.

Hutter got out of the pool and once again he glanced at the now unbelieving Kiphuth. The victory had been by the same margin by which Japan had defeated the United States the summer before.