Egan lost that face and his first real confrontation with pressure, but he has since learned to funnel the tension to improve his swimming.

Harvard teammate Jim Kornish remarked on the demands Egan puts on himself. "Sure he puts pressure on himself, but that's just his way.

Since he has been in college, Egan has learned to cope with the tension of competitive swimming. While he admits that the pressure hangs over his heads round the clock for up to several weeks before big meets, he has learned to conquer it by the time he has to step up on the starting block.

"He comes through with the great performance when we need it," said Co-Captain Brian Grottkau.

Egan, a junior, has already turned in quite a few stellar showings.

When the 200-meter butterfly is mentioned, so is the name Peter Egan. Egan, a two-time defending Eastern champion, holds the Harvard record and the Eastern record with a time of 1:47.63.

Egan finished ninth in the 1984 Olympic trials in the 200, but was dissatisfied with his performance. He is widely considered a strong contender for the 1988 United State squad

One month ago, Regan was selected to an American national team which was to swim against the West Germans.

Highest Honors

"It was a great honor," Egan says.

However, this high point in Egan's career was tamted by a scheduling conflict. A decision to join the team travelling to Germany meant Egan would miss a chance to compete in Harvard's most important dual meet of the season, against Princeton.

Nonetheless, he chose Germany.

"I felt I would be changing myself if I didn't go," said Egan.

Harvard Men's Swimming Coach Joe Bernal didn't agree with bgan's decision, but once it was made Bernal accepted it.

"After the decision was made, he didn't try to make me change my mind," said Egan