The Crimson swimming team was shut out in yesterday's opening round of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming Championships at Dartmouth. Yale took an expected lead in the team scoring with a whopping 46 points. Navy was a distant second in the three-day affair with a total of 18.

The points expected from Harvard's Dave Abramson in the 500-yard freestyle just didn't materialize as the junior ace failed to finish in the top five. North Carolina's Harrison Merrill captured first place in the event with a fine time of 5:02.3, to set a new tourney record.

A close second to the Tar Heel junior was Villanova's Dick McDonough, defending] champion at the distance. Yalies captured third and fourth places.

Abramson's failure to score leaves the Crimson's point hopes squarely on the shoulders of sophomore star Bruce Fowler, whose breaststroke events are yet to come. Fowler could grab first place at the 100-yard distance, and could score at 200 Yards.

Elis Shee-ins

But the Yale tankmen all but wrapped up the team title with yesterday's showing. The Elis scored wins in the 50-yard freestyle, the 400-yard individual medley, and the 400-yard medley relay.

NCAA record-holder Steve Clark won the 50-yard free to repeat his victory last year in the same event. Dalo Kiefer captured the individual medley with a time of 4:23.3. The medley relay squad set a tournament record in gaining the third Eli victory, coasting to a win in 3:37.6, only 2.6 seconds off Minnesota's NCAA mark.