The meet opened with intimidation. Four muscular East German women--looking positively spooky in their long royal blue robes, dark goggles, and caps bearing the yellow, orange and black flag--strode up to the four center lanes (indicative of the four top qualifying times) in the 100-yd. freestyle, Saturday night's first final event, and promptly walked away with a merciless 1-2-3 sweep.

It looked like an auspicious beginning.

Before this weekend's second annual U.S.A. Women's International Swimming Competition was over, however, a perky group of U.S. teenagers, undaunted by the absence of some of their speediest countrywomen because of suspension by the Amateur Athletic Union (see page three), managed to avoid a repeat of the 1976 Montreal fiasco and provide a semblance of respectability to the American effort.

The U.S. team, after being shut out in the gold medal department on Saturday night when the GDR copped four, bounced back with three last night to tie the Germans in total medals. Throw in a couple of surprising performances by some American club swimmers, and the end result was enough to make you understand the rabid nationalism of the cheering U.S. team.

Two U.S. Open records equivalent to world records for yards distances (all European pools and official world record are metric while this meet was swum on a 25 yd. course), fell during the meet--both during the German assault on the first night. Barbara Krause, world record holder and 1978 world champion in the 100-m freestyle, shattered the absent Tracy Caulkins' mark in the aforementioned opening sweep with a 49.45 clocking. She joined teammates Care Meitschuck, Sari Hulsenbeck and Weike Witt in the final event of the evening to bury the old standard in the 400-yd. freestyle relay with a 3:20.30.

Last night the atmosphere at Blodgett was completely different. Led by 17-year-old workhorse Nancy Hogshead, who swam a phenomenal total of seven events during the two-day swimfest, American swimmers(including 4-year-old phenom Cvnthia Woodhead, who swam for Riverside Aquatic Association instead of the national team because she was under suspension) took all three of the individual high point scorer awards.

Hogshead, the high school junior from Jacksonville, Fla., who holds the American record in the 200-yd. butterfly, led the way with a sixth in the 200 back, a silver medal in the 100 fly, a fourth in the 200 individual medley and a bronze medal with the American "B" team in the 400 freestyle relay on Saturday night; followed by a fourth in the 400 individual medley, a singularly impressive silver medal in the 200 fly, and then a climactic gold for her butterfly leg of the American 400 medley relay on Sunday night.

Her 200 butterfly duel with East German double winner Andrea Pollack (who had meet records in both fly events), coming on the heels of the grueling 400 I.M., revealed just what kind of shape she was in. "I knew that both of the Germans always go out fast and then burn out," she said afterwards, "so I just took it slow for the first 100. I wasn't even tired at that point, but I just made my move too late."

But Higshead certainly wasn't the only star to descend on Cambridge this weekend. Petra Schneider, one of the ten top East German swimmers who graced Blodgett's waters, pulled an impressive double win in the individual medley events. Krause added the 200 freestyle to her list of golds. And lanky 15-year-old Marybeth Linzmeier amassed the third highest point total of the meet, winning the endless 1650-yd. freestyle en route.