Cheered on by the Brown marching band and a healthy crowd of 100 spectators, a powerful young Bruin squad last night drowned the Harvard women's swim team at the Smith Swim Center in Providence, 98-46.

Led by the record-shattering swims of freshmen Elaine Palmer, Peggy Tormey and Janet Dick, the Bruins overwhelmed the outclassed Harvard squad--winning all but two events and nearly shutting out the aquawomen in several of the races.

Palmer, a product of Cambridge-based Bernal's Gators Swim Club, was the star of the meet as she captured three individual first places in the 1000-yd. freestyle, 200-yd. backstroke and 50-yd. backstroke. Palmer's time of 27.92 in the 50-yd. back was fast enough to qualify her for the AIAW National swimming championships next spring, and her time of 2:09.0 in the 200-yd. backstroke put her well under the Eastern Seaboard Championship cutoff.

Tormey's and Dick's swims were equally impressive, Tormey winning the 50- and 200-yd. breaststrokes, and Dick taking the 50- and 100-yd. freestyles.

On the Crimson side, freshman Debbie Zimic and sophomore Kathleen McCloskey again played starring roles, grabbing the only first places of the evening for the Harvard swimmers. Zimic destroyed her opponents and the Harvard school record as she blazed to a 4:40.05 in the 400-yd. individual medley, the next finisher touching 17 seconds later.

The Yardling also copped two second places in the 200-and 100-yd. freestyles--her times of 1:56.52 and 54.8, respectively, barely wedging her between the stellar Bruin performers.

McCloskey, Harvard's dominant force in the butterfly events this year, again proved her superiority as she outdueled Brown's Laura Reynolds in the gutsy 200-yd butterfly to take first place with a time of 2:08.36. McCloskey also eked out a third place in the 100-yd. I.M. with a 1:05.70, and then dropped a close race to Reynolds in the 50-yd. fly, taking second place with a fast 27.69.

In the one-and three-meter diving events, sophomore Adriana Holy dove what coach John Walker called "the best meet of her life." Scoring mostly sevens and eights on her dives, Holy could do no wrong as she ran away with the honors in both of the diving contests.

THE NOTEBOOK: Junior diver Pam Stone, usually Harvard's striking force in the one-meter contest, hit her hand on the board in the one-meter contest, but continued to compete between ice pack baths... Zimic and co-captain Katie Kelley each recorded lifetime bests during the meet--Kelley going 2:30. 92 in the 200-yd. backstroke, and Zimic recording a 54.8 in the 100-yd. free.