Skinny Dipping

The men's varsity swimmers turned a few heads Thursday when they dressed traditionally to prepare for the Princeton meet: with their suits on their heads.

Disregarding the presence of both the women's team and recreational swimmers, the aquamen began chanting, "Suits on head," removed their swimming trunks and paraded around the pool deck with their suits on their heads. They even took a few pictures of themselves.

"It's a tradition that started because at one point there was a Princeton meet and the guys took their suits off because we won and walked around the pool with them on their heads," said team manager Nancy J. Covello '87. "I didn't look. I went in the office and hid."

The men's swim team was not content to perform its feat just once. On Friday it repeated the stunt at the Princeton pool. "It was really funny because they have a big window where you can look down at the pool and see the people practicing," Covello said.

Practicing in the nude didn't inspire the men's team on to victory--it lost to Princeton over the weekend--but it did motivate the women's team to practice some exhibitionism of their own: "About eight girls jumped off the tower without suits on," said team member Karen E. Schneider '89.

Chess, Anyone?

While former Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O' Neill was known for his poker game. Cambridge's never political set seems to have chosen a new game to hone its strategic thinking.

Cambridge City Council candidate Jonathan Myers heads the city's chess club and will run the Cambridge Open chess tournament this spring.

Myers's skill at chess may translate into some political success for him. Celtics center Bill Walton, who has dabbled in politics in the past, met the candidate through their mutual interest in the game of kings, and has since agreed to endorse Myers.

Coooooookie

Some Harvard students found an unusual place to party Saturday night: David's Cookies, on Brattle St.

Between 30 and 40 people gathered in the darkened store late that evening and invaded the shop's basement storerooms.

"This girl in a David's Cookies apron let me in, "said one Harvard party-goer. "The lights were all out, and people were crouching down to stay out of sight."

The party-goers raided the refrigerators, helping themselves to ice cream, sodas and, of course, cookies. "I only took one cookie because I felt really guilty," said the Harvard student.