Winthrop House defeated Eliot and Leverett in a three way playoff Thursday night at the IAB to take the House swimming championship. Winthrop scored 55 points to 51 for Eliot and 46 for Leverett.

Bruce Howard anchored a win by the 200-yard freestyle relay team in the final event to pull out a come-from-behind victory for Winthrop.

Howard was the star of the night, also winning the 50-yard breaststroke and the 50 yard freestyle. Bart Rocca of Winthrop won the 50 yard butterfly, as Winthrop won four of the six events.

Eliot won the other two events, the 200 yard medley relay and the 50 yard backstroke. Leverett, which had beaten Winthrop in a meet three days ago to force the playoff, finished third, managing only five second place finishes.

Winthrop's overall depth enabled it to win in the end. Key third place finishes in the breaststroke and the butterfly kept Winthrop within reach until Howard and Rocca took over.

The meet climaxed a season which saw the three Houses trade around the top three places until they eventually deadlocked, necessitating the playoff.

With the win, Winthrop earned the right to represent Harvard against Berkeley College for the Harvard-Yale intramural swimming championship at 2 p.m. today at the IAB.