"When I figured out the probable meet results pessimistically, the score was a tie." Crimson swimming captain Mike Cahalan explained yesterday.

Neither Dartmouth nor Harvard has lost a meet all year, and the winner of their meet this afternoon in Hanover will take over first place in the powerful Eastern League. The loser will be lucky to finish higher than third by the time the season ends.

Both teams have an excellent group of freestylers, good divers, and a couple of good specialty men. "On paper our swimmers have gone a little faster," Dartmouth coach Karl Michael said yesterday. "but that won't make any difference tomorrow."

Underdog

Harvard's coach, Bill Brooks rates his team as the underdog, but he has a tendency to take a conservative point of view. He correctly pointed out, however, that Dartmouth will have the advantage of an enthusiastic Carnival Weekend crowd and that the Indians will be eager to avenge last year's loss to Harvard.

As usual, much of Harvard's hope for success depends upon Steve Krause. "I'm sure they'll realize that we'll send Steve against them three times." Cahalan said. When Krause last swam there, he won three events in a freshman meet.

A lot may be determined by the meet's first event, the medley relay. It's likely that both coaches will put their best men in this race in an effort to gain a psychological edge. It could go either way.

Cahalan expects one of the big surprises to come in the following race, the 1000 free. "Greg Huff is ready to go," the Harvard captain said. Dave Powlison will probably be the other Crimson entrant, and it is doubtful that the Big Green can find anyone to beat him unless he has a bad day.

One of the reasons that Dartmouth is stronger this year is the return from the Army of sprinter and co-captain Stu Vance, who will probably face Cahalan in the 50-free. But Michael admitted that after the year's layoff, Vance is not as fast as he used to be, and with the help of Paul Horvitz, Harvard may very well sweep the 50-free.

So why is Dartmouth favored, if the Crimson is so strong in the first few events? It is hard to know why, but one of the reasons is diver Mike Brown, who was Eastern champion on the one-meter board last winter. He has been having an excellent year, and Harvard's Dave Silver and Tom Wallace will have a tough time trying to match him today. "If we get a split in the dives, we're golden," Cahalan said. "But if we lose both, we're in trouble," he added.

Another of the Indian standouts is sophomore Jim Gottschalk, who swims the backstroke and the individual medley, in which he holds the college record of 2:00.1. Krause, on the other hand, has never lost in the medley, so one of the best races could be in that event.

Chris Cartensen is the best Dartmouth swimmer in middle distance freestyle, and he must win once or twice if his team is to subdue Harvard.