Harvard's aquawomen turned the tragic ending of last week's confrontation with Boston University into a storybook finish Saturday, landing a decisive victory in the meet-ending 800-yd. freestyle relay to post a 65-64 win over the University of Maine in Orono, Me.

Though the relay team eventually put the winning points on the board, Kathy Davis's second-place finish in the penultimate event--the 200-yd. breaststroke--made the victory possible.

Close Encounters

In what Crimson coach Stephanie Walsh called "the most exciting race of the day," Davis, who usually does not swim breaststroke, touched the wall just .04 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.

Davis's second-place finish, worth three points, allowed the aquawomen to stay within six points of UMaine, 65-59, and set the stage for the final relay, a winner-take-all event worth seven points.

The relay team of Maureen Gildea, Kathleen McCloskey, Norma Barton and Terri Fricke then stroked to a Maine pool record of 8:02.37, completely swamping the Orono quartet, which clocked in at 8:24.25.

The rest of the meet's results generally confirmed the patterns set so far this year for the Crimson women. This is a team that dominates the freestyle and butterfly events, but is weak in the back and breaststrokes.

All or Nothing

The Crimson won every butterfly and freestyle race, but failed to win any event in the other two strokes.

Janie Smith narrowly won both the 50-and the 100-yd. freestyles, triumphing in the former by just .06 seconds, and winning the 50 by less than .1 seconds.

McCloskey and Barton each grabbed a share of the butterfly glory, with Barton winning the 100 and McCloskey setting team, pool and New England records en route to a victory in the 200.

Three of a Kind

Swimming the 500- and 200-yd. freestyles back to back, Gildea recorded a first in the former and third in the latter, in addition to swimming a leg for the winning 800 free relay team.

More Gold

Other Harvard victories included Fricke in the 200-yd. freestyle and Davis in the 400-yd. individual medley. McCloskey's failure to touch on one of her turns negated her victory in the 200-yd. backstroke.

The aquawomen go back into action Wednesday night when they take on Boston College somewhere near the end of the Green Line. Good luck getting there.