In a season of high hopes, the Harvard women's swimming team last night overwhelmed its first opponent of the year, Boston College, 91-49.

The first three events, however, put Harvard in an unexpected position. By the end of the third event, Harvard trailed, 17-8.

Co-Captain Anne Wilson attributed the shaky start to the Crimson's extraordinary hard training. She said "we were a little tight in the water in the beginning."

The worrying was needless as the Harvard team completely dominated the rest of the meet, winning 10 out of the last 13 events by a combined score of 83-31.

Particularly outstanding were sophomore Karen Dehmel and freshman Karen Schneider. Dehmel finished first in three events, the 100M and 200M backstroke, as well as the 200M individual medley. Schneider was a double winner in the 100M and 200M butterfly events.

But the strength of the Crimson squad reached beyond the racers. In both the 1M and 3M diving events, Harvard claimed the top three places. Two Harvard divers, freshman Jennifer Greene and senior Shannon Byrd qualified for the nationals with their respective scores.

With such swimmers and divers, "there is no question that this team is the best we have ever had," Wilson said when asked about the prospects for this year's team. Does this mean that Harvard will win the Ivies and the Eastern Women's Swimming League? Wilson said she's hopeful but realistic, recognizing that "the only variable is that we don't know how other teams have improved."

Harvard Coach Maura Costin was equally cautious in her predictions for the Crimson squad that finished second in the Ivies and third in the EWSL the past season. "We hope to be in at least the same position as last year. The important thing is that we improve on (racing) times."

The team heads down to Columbia this weekend for what is expected to be an easy victory, but its attention is already focused on a December 4th meet at Blodgett with last year's Ivy and EWSL champion, Brown.

"Tonight's meet served its purpose of being a tune-up for the stiffer competition we have ahead of us," said Wilson.