When a swimming coach decides that his team doesn't stand a chance of staying in the water with a stronger opponent, he sometimes has to stop thinking swimming and start thinking chess. Not even Yale women's swimming coach Frank Keefe's impressive display of psychological gamesmanship, though was enough to prevent Harvard from stroking to an impressive 88 61 victory Saturday in New Haven, its first ever dual meet victory over the Bulldogs.

Coach Keefe, after deciding last week that Yale would be no match for the powerful 5.2 Crimson squad began to trumpet the fact to all who would listen apparently hoping that a case of bloated confidence would slow the Harvard swimmers down.

Our sport is a little different from football or basketball, there isn't any luck involved time is time, a breaststroker is a breaststroker and if we don't I have one it stands out like a sore thumb. We don't really stand a chance against Harvard he said today before the meet.

But the tactic took no one at Harvard by supreme. "They thought we'd be a little over confident coming in, but we knew they were ready for us, assistant Harvard coach Patti Cashman said yesterday.

Despite a few last minute, strategic changes engineered by wily coach Keefe, the meet progressed basically according to schedule.

Distance specialist Jeanne Floyd led team made Debbie Zimic to a one two finish in the 1000 freestyle in 10.26 12 Zimic touched out Yale's Jennifer Decker for second, by only on one hundredths of a second after swimming almost two-thirds of a mile.

Jump In and Sink

Hearing out coach Keele's pre-meet claim that has breaststrokers were so had he could jump in and swim it himself, sophomore Susan Kim took both the 50 breaststroke, in a fine time of 32, 86, and the 200 breaststroke in 2:35.52. Freshman Mary Rentoumis narrowly defeated Yale's best swimmer Cindee Simon, in the 200 backstroke in 2:15.14. In the last dual meet of her varsity career, all-Ivy diver Pam Stone won the three meter event over teammates Jennifer Goldberg and Adriana Holy.

The meet, which featured few other out standing performance, seemed an unspectacular way to end Harvard's seven year drought against the Bulldogs.