At 8:50 p.m. last night, the locked doors of the IAB started to rattle. Princeton's swimmers, twenty minutes overdue, were eager for a pool workout the night before today's important Eastern League meet at 4 p.m. between the Tigers and the Crimson.

Princeton has reason for approaching this encounter with eagerness. The Tigers haven't lost to Harvard since 1963, and last weekend the Crimson lost to Dartmouth, which had edged the Tigers by only one point, by an overwhelming 72-41.

Third Place

Today's encounter is a battle for third place behind Yale and Dartmouth. Princeton and Harvard are tied with 4-1 records, and if the Crimson loses again this afternoon, it will be fighting for fourth place next Saturday against Penn.

"It should be very close," said Princeton coach Bob Clotworthy last night while the Princeton freshmen worked out in their distinctive orange and black swim suits. "Harvard is stronger in the distance freestyles and the sprints, and we have the advantage in the dives." he explained.

Dave Powlison. Steve Krause, and Greg Huff are the distance men who give the Crimson an edge in those events, while captain Mike Cahalan and Paul Horvitz are the Crimson's dependable sprinters. But Harvard's Dave Silver has another tough task this weekend in trying to defeat divers John Huffstutler and Collins Landstreet.

The most exciting, and important, races are likely to come in the specialty strokes and the medley relay. Princeton has butterflyers Art Deffaa and Chuck Sakamoto to use against John Munk, who has yet to lose this season, and a good contest may develop between the Tigers Stan Ewing and Harvard's Steve Baumgart in the breaststroke.

If Crimson coach Bill Brooks puts Krause into the individual medley again, he will have a tough competition in Vaughan Howard. Both were sick recently, but seem to have recovered. Another good race is almost guaranteed between undefeated Jan Kubick and Dan Kobick in the backstroke.