Mount Holyoke used superior depth to fend off its hosts and take first place in the 13th annual Radcliffe Invitational Swimming Meet Saturday at the I.A.B.

The victors could manage just one first-place finish in individual races, but capitalized on repeated second-and third-place showings to edge Radcliffe, which finished second in the meet by 21 points, 353-332.

Following far behind the two top squads, New Hampshire took third place, with 212 points; Wellesley finished fourth, with 194; and Rhode Island, with 189 points, placed fifth.

"Naturally, I'm disappointed we didn't win," Radcliffe Coach Mary McCabe said yesterday, "but it was a great meet, one which could've gone either way."

Freshmen Laurie Downey and Diana Borden and tri-captain Nancy Sato paced the Radcliffe swimmers, collecting Radcliffe's four first-place finishes in individual races.

Downey placed first in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly, while Borden won the 50-yard breaststroke event. Sato's first came in the one-meter diving competition, an event in which Borden placed third.

Radcliffe finished first also in two relays, the 200-yard free and the 200-yard medley. In the latter, the home team broke a pool record with a time of 2:03.48, one of three pool records which fell in the meet.

Dry Dock

Despite these impressive showings, Radcliffe suffered from a long spell in dry dock--Mount Holyoke has been swimming competitively all fall, while this was Radcliffe's first competitive dip of the year.

The Radcliffe swimmers will compete next in the Wellesley College Relays this Saturday at Wellesley.