Army's powerful and well-conditioned swimming team swept three crucial individual events to tink the Crimson varsity, 51-44, at the IAB on Saturday.

Harvard had six first places to Army's five, but the Cadets grabbed enough important seconds and thirds to clinch the victory before the final relay. The group de grace came in the 500-yard freestyle, which Army sophomore John Williams won with an Army record time of 5:05.1.

Going into the 500, Army led by a score of 40 to 30. Since a final relay victory would be useless without five points in the freestyle, Coach Bill Brooks put sprint ace Bill Shrout and strongman Neville Hayes in the race.

Shrout had already topped Williams by a yard in the 200-yard freestyle with a near-record time of 1:48.9, and barely three minutes earlier, he had climbed from the pool after a 49.1 victory in the 100. But Williams, with a 40-minute rest since the 200, pulled away steadily and won by a good fifteen yards. Army's Ken Cummings held off Shrout by three yards to clinch the meet.

It would have taken a super-human feat for Hayes to have upset Williams, either. Only one event before Shrout's 100 victory, he had defeated Army Captain Frank Pratt with a 2:02.6 timing in the 200-yard butterfly.

Army's other important sweep came in the individual medley, where Dick Kline and Charles Gantner edged Bob Corris for a vital eight points. Kline's winning time was a very fast 2:04.6. Gantner later touched out Jim Seubold for third in the 100. Army also swept the backstroke, with Jack Gatesy winning in 2:07.3.

Harvard's only sweep was in the 50-yard freestyle, which Phil Chase and Bob Padway won in 23.1. Chase anchored the winning freestyle relay behind Dick Saxe, Steve Coy, and Pete Adams. Adams opened an eight-yard lead with a 50.1 split on the third leg; the winning time was 3:22.9.

Harvard's freshman team smashed Army's plebes, 65 to 30. The medley relay team of Gregg Inman, Tom Zanna, Marty Chalfie, and Bill Swisher set a freshman record of 3:51.6. It was a harbinger of better days ahead.

Harvard's best time of the day was Bob Corris's strong 2:19.4 in the breaststroke. John Friedman and Charles Vines scored four points behind Army's polished Wayne Schaltenbrand in the dive.