CHAPEL HILL, N.C., March 28--Yale's powerful swimming team received a slight jolt in the first event of the 34th NCAA Championships here last night. Michigan's Fritz Myers pulled even with the Elis' Ray Ellison at the three-quarters mark in the 1500-meter freestyle, then stroked on to upset the Eastern champion in 19:04.8. This ties the Tar Heel Pool record set in 1949 by N. Heusner of North-western.

Ellison finished second in 19:05.5, while Joe Robinson took third for the Elis in 19:32.5. The other point-winners were Edward Johnson of Texas (19:33.6), Buddy Belshe of Denver (19:42.4), and Peter Fries of Michigan (19:52.1).

The Crimson's Tom Cochrane was scratched from the event with some difficulty. The NCAA has a ruling that once a swimmer is scratched from one event, he is automatically scratched from all other events. But freshman coach Bill Brooks raced on ahead of the team and was able to outtalk the officials' objections that a scratching would overbalance the heats.

Yale's deep, record-laden squad remains the favorite, however, with Michigan second and Michigan State and Indiana close behind. Harvard, even with the breaks, should finish no higher than fourth or fifth, in a field of fifty-eight teams and no more than 500 swimmers.

Captain Chouteau Dyer is the Crimson's chief hope for points, and he is either favored or co-favored in both of the sprints. If he can win them both, the varsity might be able to finish as high as third. If he somehow gets shut out in them, however, the varsity would almost certainly fall out of the top ten teams.

Dyer's best chance is in the 100-yard freestyle, where his listed time of 49.0 is 0.8 seconds better than that of any other entrant. Robin Moore of Stanford, the world record-holder at 48.9, was injured in football this fall and wil not compete. Olympic 100-meter freestyler Dick Hanley of Michigan (49.8), Don Patterson (50.0) of Michigan State, and the Yale trio of Roger Anderson (50.1), Dave Armstrong (50.1), and Rex Aubrey (50.2) will offer the chief opposition.

In the fifty, Dyer faces even toughter competition, for both Bob Keiter of Amherst, who beat him in the Easterns, and Fred Westphal of Wisconsin have equalled his best time of 22.2. Dave Armstrong of Yale (22.4), Bill Roth of North Carolina (22.5), and Rex Aubrey of Yale, the defending co-champion, are some of a host of strong contenders, eleven of whom have bettered 23 seconds this year.

With the exception of the sprints, however, the best the varsity can hope for is a few points gained here and there by qualifying for the finals. Perhaps the surest of these "placing" points are the relays. In the 400-yard medley relay, the Crimson's best time of 3:55.0 ranks fifth in the country and may be good enough to score in the final. Yale at 3:48.8 and Michigan at 3:49.0 are hopelessly ahead of every one else.

The Crimson ranks slightly higher in the 400 freestyle relay, for its time of 3:27.6 puts it fourth in the country. Once again, however, Yale, with a world record time of 3:16.1, is lengths ahead of the rest of the field.

The varsity's only other hopes for points are John Hammond in the 100 butterfly and Frank Gorman in the dives. Hammond's second-place time in the Easterns (56.8) ranks him fifth in the premeet calculations, which figures Tim Jecko of Yale (54.9) and Dick Tanabe of Indiana (55.3) as the favorites. Hammond will probably have to better his top time to be sure of a place.

Gorman will also have to be at his peak to place in the dive. But he will be aided by the fact Ohio State, perenially the diving power, has been placed under a year's probation by the NCAA and will be unable to compete. Dick Kimball of Michigan is favored in both the dives