Saturday at the IAB the freshman swimming team climaxed a highly successful season with a 53-42 victory over Yale. Losing only to Dartmouth, the Yardlings posted a 10-1 record for the season and lowered the Harvard freshman records in three events.

The high point of the season was the Yale meet. Records fell starting with the first event, as the Bulldog team of Miguel Garcia, John Howells, Mike Austin, and Dave Weeks surged past the Crimson entry of Dave Reisen, Bob Dillworth, Mike Reiss and Frank Wood for a first place time of 3:59.6 and a new Yale freshman record. Captain Bob Price, an outstanding butterfly man (55.2 for the hundred against Dartmouth), might have made the difference for the Crimson, but he has been sidelined with mononucleosis since the Dartmouth meet.

Joe Stetz and Harry Turner were the Crimson standouts in the meet, each turning in iron-man performances in three of the most gruelling events in intercollegiate swimming. Turner, who missed a berth on the Australian Olympic team by a scant .2 second, cruised to victory ahead of teammate Bill Chadsey in the 220 with a time of 2:13.4--only a second off the Harvard record. Then in the 200 butterfly he finished right behind teammate Stetz in 2:11.3 to shut out versatile Bulldog captain Austin. Both Turner and Stetz, who set a new record in 2:11.0, were more than two seconds faster than the old mark of 2:13.3, set last year by Freddy Elizalde.

Stetz, just before the diving, had finished close behind Austin in the individual medley, as Austin swam a 2:10.1 for a Yale freshman record. Austin's time was only half a second off the National intercollegiate record and Stetz's was a hair faster than the Harvard record set just last week by Dave Bennett in 2:14.9.

Most Remarkable in 440

The pair's most remarkable performance, however, came in the 440. Though both swimmers had already raced nearly a quarter of a mile in the meet, they finished 2-3 behind Yalie Ralph Straw. Both Stetz and Turner unofficially broke the freshman record of 4:54.3.

After Reisen and Bennett came through for a Crimson sweep in the backstroke--an event in which Harvard has been notoriously weak--Chadsey mathematically eliminated the Bulldogs in the breast-stroke when he led teammate Don Kohla to a 1-2 finish in 2:27.2. But his time was considerably slower than the freshman record of 2:25.7 he set earlier this year.

Things are looking up for Harvard diving, too, as John Shelton and John Heuser easily stole the first two places from their Bulldog opponents. Shelton in particular exhibited smooth and polished form in the dives he executed, though he has not yet mastered dives of the difficulty Lewy and Peters can do.

The overall strength and amazing depth of this year's freshmen naturally invites comparison with the great Yardling team of the Class of '62. But, as coach Benn Merritt says, "I wasn't here at the time and am in no place to judge. All I can say is, they're good."

Could Beat Dartmouth Now

In 11 meets, the Yardlings dropped only one. And it is reasonably safe to say that if the freshmen were to meet Dartmouth again today, the Indians would go the way of Yale. Coming as it did early in January, the meet caught the Yardlings unprepared, for Dartmouth had a week more of early season practice under their belts than the Crimson.

The Yardlings should be able to contribute a great deal to next year's varsity. Chadsey, of the New Trier swimming school, is already swimming times better than the varsity breaststrokers did at mid-season. And iron men Turner and Stetz can help out in practically any event over 200 yards.

In addition, there seems to be a limitless supply of sub-52 sprinters. Dillworth, a most consistent point-winner for the squad, has done a 51.8 100 split in a relay, as has Denis Hunter, Bruce's brother. Wood is also a fine sprinter as is Elliot Miller, the fastest of them all over a flat hundred, in 50 plus.

Perhaps the most encouraging fact is that the boys are all improving steadily. There is not one case of a swimmer who has hit his peak in high school--as did Yale's Jim Loofbourrow--and then continued to swim the same times all through college.