This is it. The grueling preseason with its seemingly endless yardage; the sun and full-time training in Puerto Rico over Christmas; the bitter taste of the unexpected loss to Princeton followed by the ecstasy of the upset of Indiana and the convincing defense of the Eastern Seaboard title--these events are history now, and the time has come, at next week's NCAA Championships, for the Crimson swim team to show itself and the world just how good a swimming program we have here in Cambridge.

The setting could not be more perfect. Eleven Harvard swimmers will compete in a total of 15 individual events and three relays--as compared to eight in seven events and two relays last season when the Crimson scored 35 points to finish 13th.

All of the Crimson's points return, in the person of Bobby Hackett, and with the addition of this year's talented freshmen, particularly David Lundberg, more individual points and some relay places are a definite possibility.

Best of all, the Championships, which begin Wednesday with three-meter diving preliminaries, and run through next Saturday, will be held in the friendly confines of Blodgett Pool.

Psychologically, this has to help the Crimson. Starts and turns at Blodgett are now second-nature for a team that has practiced and competed there all year. And the effect of performing before a highly partisan home crowd, while lessened by the absence of the student body, should stimulate fast swimming.

This seemingly rosy picture is clouded only by the physical status of Lundberg, who returned to the water Monday after a week-long bout with the flu.

Jellyfish

"I felt like a blob of jelly, weak and not sharp at all the first day back," the freshman breaststroker/medleyist said Wednesday night. "But the speed is still there and we've built a good training base so I think my endurance should hold up."

Rest is the name of the game at this point in the season, so Lundberg's layoff may not be as potentially damaging as it seems. What is sure is that his relay legs and individual finishes are the key to Harvard's attempt to improve upon last year's finish.

Next week's meet will provide interesting data for our season-long quest for insight into the effects of shaving and tapering on swimming performance.

Essentially this will be the third shave of the campaign for the Crimson squad. Some only clipped (used clipping shears instead of razors) for Indiana, and Hackett didn't even do that before Easterns, but for most, this will be the third time with the Trac-II.

The goal is to improve each time, but the "streamlined" feeling created by the removal of hair lessens with each shave. The hair simply hasn't grown back. On the other hand, neither of the first shaves were accompanied by a total taper (ten days or so of almost complete rest when practices consist of minimal yardage while working on race-pace and details like starts, turns and finishes.)

It is difficult to imagine the team being any more psyched than they were for Indiana, but this is the national championship meet, and Harvard's chance to prove itself while swimming at home.