The "little twerp" grew into a high school All-American by his junior year, although he concentrated mainly on his AAU swimming since the high school competition consisted of "jokers wearing boxer shorts."

Gauthier's smooth and relaxed freestyle stroke plus his strong butterfly put him in a class of his own and made him a tempting prospect for any college team.

With Gambril at Alabama, Gauthier figured he would head south, but Joe Bernal and Blodgett Pool convinced the local to stick around for a few more years.

This summer, Gauthier partially made up for lost time with his old coach, training a total of six hours a day by running, working out with weights, and swimming 15,000 meters. Monday morning workouts were especially taxing as the swimmers entered the snake-infested waters of Lake Tuscaloosa for a five-mile swim (about 84 minutes).

"A couple of times I was swimming along, and I'd hit a branch and totally freak out because they told us there were water mocassins in the water," Gauthier said.

When Gauthier came back to Cambridge this fall, he found a changed attitude on the team. "Last year we hated to wear shirts and ties, but this year's freshmen came to our first meet dressed like New York bankers in three piece suits."

This aversion to formal dress reflects Gauthier's overall down-to-earth attitude toward swimming--"Swimming is a way of life; no one can have inhibitions in a bathing suit. There are no tweed jackets; you're not a jock or a preppie. You're just a swimmer."

And though only his hairdresser does not know for sure, a swimmer is exactly what Gauthier is.