After a quick water pistol fight with his roommate. Michael Coglin lies down on his water bed wearing a Harvard swimming t-shirt and says, "I hate water."

Coglin's desire to get out of the despised water might explain why he swims so fast, but talent, experience and pride also contribute to the All-American's success in the pool.

At the Eastern Seaboard Championships March 1-3 at Blodgett Pool, the Eliot House sophomore qualified in four events for next week's NCAA championships while registering the fifth highest individual point total.

Coglin set new Eastern, Harvard and pool records in the 200-yd. individual medley, a race he jokingly terms "a boring old bugger," and in the 400 IM touched a mere .11 seconds behind first place finisher and teammate, Ron Raikula.

The engineering major also anchored both freestyle relay teams, including the pivotal 800-yd. relay in which Coglin held off Tiger Andrew Saltzman and secured a .03-second victory for the Crimson.

Gleamin' for the Team

"I'm a team man and if the team needs me to swim well for it to win, then I will," Coglin said.

"In a tough race there's absolutely no way Mike will let someone beat him," teammate Bobby Hackett said, referring to Coglin's outstanding performance against Saltzman.

Last year at the Nationals, Hackett and Coglin teamed up with Malcolm Cooper and Julian Mack to place twelfth in the 800-yd. relay and receive All-American status.

Despite the title, however, Coglin is "not an all-American boy," Mack said.

Born in Scotland, Coglin moved to Malaysia where he lived for eight years before moving to Kenya. Coincidentally, his mother taught swimming at a local golf club to a group of youngsters which included Coglin's future teammate, Tim Maximoff.

"My mom threw me in the water when I was two and a half," Coglin said. By the time he reached seven and a half, he was competing on Kenya's National Team.

At age 12, Coglin travelled to England to study at the Millfield School and train for the 1976 British Olympic Team.

The 6-ft., 160-pounder missed qualifying for the 200-yd. freestyle by a fraction of a second but finished fifth in the country while the top four Britons went on to capture a bronze medal in the 800 relay in Montreal.

Back in England, Coglin's coach selected the 1500-yd. freestyle as the outstanding 1976 Olympic race and impressed upon his charges silver-medalist Hackett's outstanding stamina and kick.