Water polo has a reputation in knowledgeable circles as being a grueling sport in its own right, but four players on this year's squad are redefining the amount of time a human being can spend in the water by playing water polo and practicing with the swim team at the same time. TIM MAXIMOFE, STEVE MUNATONES, COURTNEY ROBERTS and BOB TYLER are spending up to seven hours per day and 30 hours per week in the pool, and that's just regular practice hours which exclude game time. Roberts and Maximoff pulled the same stunt last year, lettering in both sports, and this year Roberts convinced Eliot House roommates Munatones and Tyler to give it a try. Granted, Eliot is the closest house to Blodgett, which cuts down on transportation time, but these diehards spend almost half of their waking hours in the pool during the week. A biology major now taking organic chemistry, Tyler says "It takes a lot of time and dedication--it has virtually wiped out our social lives." Almost as bad, the sophomore admits to having trouble finding time to study." Meanwhile, Maximoff, also of Eliot House, is headed for Law School next year and Munatones and Roberts are trying to hack it in the Biology Department along with Tyler. And what does water polo coach STEVE PIKE think of his four players? "I think it's an outrageous thing to do," Pike says, "But I am in favor of it entirely. It might hurt the water polo team a little bit but in the sense that we have four very talented swimmers that we might otherwise not have benefits the squad a lot." For the record, should the Eliot House-Blodgett Pool residents make it to every practice on a typical Monday, Wednesday or Friday, they would be in the pool from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., and from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

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Inspired by his team's performances this season, women's cross country coach JOHN BABINGTON competed in the Heartbreak 10 kilometer Classic last Sunday and finished 82nd in a field of more than 3000 runners. Babington's time of 35 minutes was his best in a number of years... Because runners burn off so many calories when they put in their numerous miles of training, they are able to maintain lithe bodies while eating vast quantities of food. They demonstrated this exceptional ability last weekend when they descended upon senior MARY HERLIHY's house in Worcester after the Eastern Championships, and indulged in sandwiches, salad, chips, and cider--the coach had a little "liquid refreshment" he demurely noted. On the way back, the team--still not completely sated--stopped at an ice cream parlor for a snack. Everyone ordered large servings, but junior DARLENE BECKFORD's creation of peppermint ice cream with hot fudge and marshmallow topping won special honors ....

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Contrary to popular opinion, women's soccer tournaments consist of more than just soccer games. For example, the Harvard squad almost arrived late for Saturday morning's semi-final match at 11 a.m. Manager Liz Wills originally scheduled the team bus for Friday morning but corrected the order to Saturday. More than a few people were relieved when the Wilson Bus Lines vehicle rolled into the Dillon Field House parking lot, albeit thirty minutes late.... UMass coach KALENKENI "Ken" BANDA's wife had more important matters to worry about than her husband's team. Mrs. Banda, whose husband hails from Malawi in Central Africa, gave birth to a baby girl Nyanyika Mary Banda Sunday morning at 12:30 a.m..... After last Sunday afternoon's victory, Harvard dipped into the post-game bubbly courtesy of KELLY LANDRY's parents, and loyal fans and occasional ball boys MATT FE and RON BROWN, passing around the booze-filled Eastern cup. After a quick shower and change, the booters congregated at Chi-Chi's for the real triumphal festivities.... The Harvard contingent spent the Eastern Tournament weekend at the Willamantic Motel Inn, outside of Storrs, Conn. The tourney festivities kicked off on Friday afternoon with a women's soccer "social," which featured fruit punch for all the participating teams at the Alumni Center. The Crimson left early and went to Rosale's for a "rustic" dinner in front of a fire. Rumor has it that the team's waitress is still telling the story about the party of 24 that asked for separate checks....

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Last night the women's field hockey team celebrated the closing of their season at sophomore goalie JULIET LAMONT's house in Newton, MA where they dined on such delicacies as lamb, salad, and a dessert buffet provided by the junior members of they squad. Entertainment consisted of skits put on by each of the classes about the season and various personalities on the team....

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Senior JOHN GILLIES, who is one of the monitors down at the ITT weight room, sees a lot during his shifts in the morning and in the afternoons. Everyone has a different technique when it comes to pumping iron, he notes. "One girl squeals a lot--she sounds like a dying pig," he says. "A lot of the guys are pretty vocal, too," he laughingly adds.... Among the professors who are often seen perfecting their bicep and tricep curls are JAMES Q. WILSON, ROBERT KLITGAARD and RICHARD HERRNSTEIN. Where's HUGH FLICK this year?

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Seen at the Boathouse Bar on Thursday night this week was hockey great, BOBBY ORR, who was promoting Moosehead Beer. "He was really personable," said one Kirkland House elbow-bender who was among the numerous K-House students trying to win Moosehead plaques and shirts there that night....

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Leverett House football coach Mike Rapposelli must be wondering if he did the right thing when deciding to play a game against an undermanned Eliot squad. He had the option of demanding a forfeit and being assured of a trip to Yale, enabling his team to play in House-College football competition, but instead, he chose to play and his team got crunched by Eliot 19-0. As a consequence, Leverett gridders will be spending next Friday in Cambridge, not New Haven. "I was aware of my options. But I was there to play football. We were keyed up and wanted to go out and hit people," said Rapposelli. "If they (Eliot) needed six or seven guys, I would have given some of my own players to them. Yeah, it would have been nice to go to Yale, but we just wanted to bang heads." Instead of Leverett providing some of its manpower to its opponent, Winthrop--which had played earlier in the afternoon--donated one of its warriors to the Eliot cause, giving the team a necessary eleven. Incidently, the teams travelling to Yale on November 20 are Quincy, Dunster-Mather, South House, Kirkland, Winthrop and, of course, Eliot. The squads with the six best over-all records are eligible to make the trip.... The names RICH REID and GEOFF STEARNS may not be that recognizable to many House football fans, but over the past three years they have kept House football thriving and functioning at a healthy pace. Who are they? They're the chain gang, devoting their time (for a slight fee, of course) to carrying the ten-yard marker and ball marker up and down the grid iron. But the two Kirkland House residents will be retiring after Yale due to old age--they're seniors. In honor of that event, the House football referees gave Stearns and Reid each a penalty marker with his name on it and an officiating cap--total cost $2.50.