"And in lane number seven, appearing in his final dual meet for the Crimson, the Olympic silver medalist from Chappaqua, New York, Harvard's co-captain and three time All-American, Bobby Hackett."

Following his introduction before the 1000-yd. freestyle in this afternoon's swim meet against Yale, Bobby Hackett should receive an ovation powerful enough to shake Blodgett pool right down to the foundation.

However, during Hackett's sophomore year, with the Crimson swimming dynasty well on its way to a second consecutive undefeated season, the once adequate number, which witnessed the former Olympian's assault on the Harvard record book while still a freshman, grew sparser by the week.

Now with only a handful of races remaining before the completion of his spectacular career, Hackett and those who follow in his wake, comprising the finest collegiate swim squad in the East, seldom draw more than a few rows of dedicated spectators. Not enough to muster the applause Hackett deserves.

Predictably, the number attending each meet grows fewer as this season winds down and the people now claiming to have witnessed his debut three years ago would fill the IAB twice over.

On Saturday, December 3, 1977, Hackett swam his first Harvard race in the season opener against Navy. He completed that first collegiate 200-yd. freestyle in 1:40.38 to set the first of his many University records. Since that first meet, only Hackett and sophomore Ted Chappell have covered the distance any quicker. The senior from Eliot House still holds the Harvard record, a blistering 1:36.85 set in the 1979 NCAA trials at Cleveland State, as well as three other University records for individual events.

A week later, Hackett made his first road trip and returned from West Point with an NCAA record 9:02.05 for the 1000-yd. free. If short course races--those held in 25-yd. pools instead of the 50-meter type used in international competition--were recognized, this would have been a world record.

The finest moment of that first season came in early February when before standing room only crowd of 1200 plus, the Crimson christened Blodgett Pool with a 58-55 win over arch-rival Princeton.

Behind 55-51 at the start of the final race, Harvard's 400-free relay team of Malcolm Cooper, Duncan Pyle, Julian Mack and Hackett dealt the Tigers a crushing blow when they churned out a 3:05.29 to win by seven-tenths of a second.

Shoot to Thrill

"Winning the Princeton meet freshman year was one of my biggest thrills at Harvard and I'd have to say beating them at their own pool the following year ranks high also," Hackett says.

Between freshman and sophomore years. Harvard's ace competed in the World Games in Berlin. This was the scene of his biggest triumph since copping the silver medal in the 1500-meter free in Montreal at the 1976 Olympics. Swimming on the USA 800-meter free relay squad, Hackett swam a 1:49.87 for the third leg behind Bruce Furniss and Billy Forrester. When anchorman Rowdy Gaines hit the wall, the foursome had a 7:20.80 for what is still the world record.

When he returned to Cambridge that fall, Hackett found that Coach Joe Bernal's recruiting campaign had filled the waters of Blodgett Pool with talented swimmers.

No Salesman

"I am not used to selling recruits on Harvard. Harvard sells Harvard. When high school seniors visit we show them the whole school with swimming as a sidelight. If they want excellent swimming and excellent academics, we hope they choose Harvard. If they want swimming without academics, the whole team would rather see them go elsewhere, no matter how good they are," Hackett, an economics major, says.