Once each season Harvard's swimmers face a juggernaut loaded with Olympians and contenders for national honors. It's that time of year again, and today at 4 p.m. at the Payne Whitney Gymnasium in New Haven, the Crimson will take on the strongest team in the East--Yale.

Bill Brooks' Crimson squad has had a fairly good year, defeating Dartmouth, the Ivy nonentities, and Springfield, while losing to Army (the only team to stop the Elis), Princeton, and Navy.

Harvard will have outstanding performers. Butterflyer Neville Hayes has not broken the record he set last year, but remains undefeated. Captain Bruce Fowler is still one of the top breaststroke sprinters in the country, and junior Bob Corris has smashed the University record in the 200-yard breaststroke and is emerging as a star in the individual medley.

But Yale is simply too much. The Bull-dogs have fantastic depth and talent in every event but the dive. In addition, they have several stars, notably Olympians Don Schollander and Bill Mettler, who are almost certain winners in any event they choose to swim. True, the Blue lost at West Point 48-47, but that was before Schollander and Mettler became eligible for varsity competition.

Last weekend the Elis demonstrated their incredible depth by defeating two highly regarded Eastern teams in one day. Saturday afternoon, using largely a second-string lineup at Villanova, they whipped the Wildcats 57-38.

If Yale coach Phil Moriarty is in a mean mood and is still inked over the loss Harvard handed him four years ago, he could probably juggle his lineup so that the Elis would win almost every event.

The 200-yard butterfly will match Mettler, who set a Yale record of 1:59.1 against Princeton, against Hayes, who hasn't bettered 2:00.5 this year, but set a Harvard mark of 1:57.4 last season. The Bulldogs will also throw in Rick Schneider, their old record holder at 2:00.5. Mettler is a faster sprinter than Hayes and probably will set the pace, but Neville hasn't lost in a long time and might be able to wear Mettler down in the last 50 and win, with both men under the meet and respective college records.

Bob Corris has an obsession. He wants to whip Yale's Mike Buckley in the 200-yard breaststroke even though Buckley swam the fastest time in the East this winter, 2:12.9, which was 8.8 seconds faster than the record Corris set against Princeton. Corris, however, has not been pushed all year and has plenty of tenacity over the last 100. Look for him to stay a yard of Buckley's 1:03 plus pace for the first 100, churn into the lead with about 50 yards to go, and eke out the upset of the afternoon in record time. It's possible.

If Corris enters the individual medley, he should beat Yale's Jackie Kiefer, whose best time is nearly a second behind Corris's. Of course, Moriarty could use Schollander, Mettler, or Bill Wemple, all of whom can better 2:03, faster than Corris can hope for this season.

The afternoon's final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, could result in another Crimson victory if Yale has the meet sewed up and Moriarty is feeling benevolent. Yale's first-string lineup may be the best in the country, but if the Elis use scrubs, and Harvard's quartet -- Bill Shrout, Phil Chase, Steve Coy, and Jim Seubold -- can break 3:15, the last seven points may go to the Crimson.

Sophomores Schollander and Shrout will revive the inevitably record-smashing rivalry they began last year as freshmen. They're likely to meet head-on in the 200-yard freestyle, and Schollander will probably win with a time in the vicinity of 1:43. On the basis of this season's performance, Shrout will have to push to hit 1:47, which could put him third if Eli captain Joe Hill swims the 1:46 expected of him.