What can you do for an encore after a performance that brought the house down? The Crimson swimming virtuosos, coming off last week's rout of Princeton, must find an answer to that question as they face Cornell this afternoon in Ithaca.

"Cornell is pretty good this year,"Harvard coach Ray Essick said Thursday, "and we are going to have to be careful not to be caught on a downswing."

The Big Red boasts a few good swimmers and its traditionally good diving department. Senior sprinter Chip Harrison has been consistently garnering points in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle all year. Harrison has recorded a 21.5 for the 50 and has a 47.7 in the 100.

Freshman star Jack Branden has shone for Cornell in the 200-yard backstroke and the 200 individual medley. Branden's time of 2:00.9 against Navy earlier in the season broke the old Cornell record by almost two full seconds.

Cornell captain Doug Bell will be Crimson ace Peter Tetlow's chief competition in the long distance freestyle. As has been usual in the Cornell meet, a 1650-yard freestyle will replace the usual 1000-yard freestyle in preparation for the Eastern Championships. Bell has been clocked in 4:55 in the 500 freestyle as opposed to Tetlow's 4:40. In the 1000, Bell has been recorded in 10:01.8 earlier this season as compared to Tetlow's 9:35.9.

Freshman Mike Guzewicz leads Cornell's traditionally deep diving corps. In competition so far this year for the Red, he has frequently taken both diving events.

The best matchup of the day, however, will probably be in the 200-yard butterfly with All-Americans Hess Yntema from Harvard and Bob Meade from Cornell facing each other. Yntema took the regular season meeting last year, but Meade came back to edge him out in the Eastern Championships.

"We've had some colds and illness this past week that we were able to escape from earlier, but our guys have worked hard and everyone is going," Essick said.

"You know, when you compare times, we should be favored," Essick said in a mild understatement. "But until we get to the Eastern Championships, I'll be running scared."