To most college athletes, the last week in March is a relatively insignificant time of the year, a period of transition--from indoors to outdoors, winter to spring. The winter teams have all finished up, the spring competition is barely underway, and almost everybody is on vacation.

But to the college swimmer, the last week of March may be the single most important week on his athletic calendar. For it is then, after the Waltons and Thompsons have left the stage, that the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships are held.

This week, after a couple of years on the road in places like West Point, N.Y., and Knoxville, Tenn., the National meet returns to the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool at Long Beach State for three-days of psyching, shaving, screaming, and swimming in good ol' Southern California, the mecca of American swimming.

Reunion-Like Affair

NCAA swimming championships are always reunion-like affairs. Most of the top swimmers know each other from swimming together on California AAU teams each summer, age-group swimming, or post-meet parties, but this year should be an especially interesting get together for Don Gambril and the Harvard team.

The Crimson, which will be trying to break into the top ten in the team standings for the first time, will get its first look at Gambril, its former coach, since he flew the coop last spring to build a national swimming power at Alabama.

Ironically, Gambril trained several Harvard swimmers, among them Hess Yntema, Tim Neville, and Rich Baughman, at the Belmont Plaza pool two summers ago.

National Prominence

He will find it hard not to be impressed by the great success his successor, Ray Essick, has enjoyed this season, and the strides Harvard has taken towards national swimming prominence.

Indiana, which has dominated college swimming for the past decade will win again, perhaps more easily than in years past. USC, UCLA, Washington, and Tennessee should provide most of the excitement in the battle for second, and fourth.

Here is how the meet shapes up for Harvard. The Crimson should find it extremely difficult to break the top ten, because there are still too many good teams ahead of it. Besides the five teams mentioned above, Stanford, Michigan and Florida are definite top ten choices, with North Carolina State (which skipped the Easterns to concentrate on the Nationals), and Gambril's Alabama team probably rounding out the first ten.

Harvard will probably end up somewhere in the 11-14th place range, an improvement on last year's 16th place finish. Although the team is likely to score considerably more than it is capable of to break the top ten. Last year's point total of 19, 14 of which were scored by Hess Yntema, will definitely be eclipsed.

500-yd. freestyle: Fred Tyler of Indiana appears the favorite. Harvard's Peter Telow's 4:39+performance at the Easterns was not good enough to make the top ten and it is doubtful that he has the speed to go the couple of seconds faster he must in order to score. Princeton's Curt Haydon is a possible point-getter, but he is notorious for peaking at the Easterns and choking at the Nationals.

200-yd. Individual Medley: Olympic breast stroke gold medal winner John Hencken of Stanford, and Mike Drew of Auburn are co-favorites. Tyler, could be a dark-horse. Hess Yntema, if he swims, might be able to grab a few points if he improves on his 1:54+win at the Easterns. Dave Brumwell's 1:55 is good, but probably not good enough.

50-yd. free: Defending champion Trembley has not broken into the top ten nationally in the event all year long, and is vulnerable. His team, Tennessee, will pick up lots of points regardless. Tim Neville won the Easterns in 21.3 and he has a good shot to grab a couple of points in the consolations.