After today's meet with undefeated Princeton in the IAB, Harvard's swimmers may wish that they had spent their afternoon practicing racing dives off the Harvard Bridge.
According to Crimson coach Bill Brooks, the Tigers are unusually loaded this year, particularly with freestyle sprinters, an asset they never before possessed.
The Tigers dunked the same Navy squad last weekend that thrashed the Crimson earlier this season, 66-29, and have also beaten Big Ten power Ohio State.
The meet, which starts at 4 p.m., should begin with an easy Tiger victory in the 400-yard medley relay. Their quartet of Jim Kremer, Bob Kahrl, captain John Kalmbach, and Bill Kjellstrom thrashed the Middles in 3:41, three seconds faster than Harvard's best.
Bill Green will also pick up a sure five points for the men from Old Nassau in the dive, though Pete Alter and John Friedman should grab second and third for Harvard.
Princeton also has certain winners with Kremer in the backstroke and in the 500-yard freestyle, with Kris Brown, who has churned out a 4:58--a ranking national performance.
Harvard also has some wild cards. Bill Shrout and Pete Adams, if Brooks uses them should leave Roger Fagan in their wake in the 200-yard frestyle. Neville Hayes is at least two seconds better than Kalmbach in the 300-yard butterfly. Adams should also grab a sure second place in the 600. Bruce Fowler and Bob Corris will be able to glide to a two-second victory in the 200-breaststroke.
If the Crimson are to give the Tigers any sort of a tussle though, Shrout will have to win the 100-yard freestyle over Bruce Brookens and Dave Van Voorhis, each of whom has done 48.9, a fraction better than Shrout's peak effort this season, but .9 seconds off his Harvard record set last year.
The most important event of the day for Harvard will come early in the meet. Corris could really shake the Tigers if he beats their invincible jack-of-all-trades Kris Brown in the 200-yard individual medley. Corris hasn't been pushed all year, but his best time is 2.8 seconds behind Brown's 2:04.1.
The last event of the afternoon could be a tragedy for the Crimson if they go into it with a chance to win. The Tigers' vaunted freestylers whipped Ohio State in 3:16.2, more Crimson's peak performance thus far.
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