Day begins before dawn for Jon E. Kossow '96.

Three days a week, Kossow wakes up at 5:30 a.m. in his first floor room at 29 Garden St., grabs his cab voucher provided by the athletic department and hopes in the back seat of a taxi so he won't be late to 6 a.m. swim practice at Blodgett Pool.

Although a sprinter, Kossow swims nearly two miles by the time he sits down to breakfast. And morning isn't the only time he tastes chlorine. After his classes, Kossow pedals his bike back over the Charles to Blodgett for three hours of swimming sprints and strength training.

These five hour practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, which are supplemented by two hour workouts on Tuesday and Thursdays, leave Kossow exhausted, he says.

But, like many of his fellow undergraduate athletes, Kossow came to Harvard to live just this sort of life. In fact, according to its athletic department, Harvard College has more students participating in intercollegiate athletics than any other school in the country.

And these athletes say the nature of their involvement in Harvard athletics goes beyond the amount of time they spend practicing their sport.

"It consumes you," says Kathy Delaney Smith, coach of the women's basketball team for the past 11 years. "You have to love the game to play because it takes up a major portion of your time."

"It's important that they're eating right and sleeping right," says Men's Hockey Coach Ronnie R.Tomassoni, adding that his players' academicschedules are a major concern of his. "A hugeadvantage for our athletes is the reading period."

Even for some sports, reading period isn't muchof a break. Tomassoni's team, for one, will playfour games this January, including three roadgames in upstate New York.

Many Harvard athletes say the amount of timethey must devote to athletics has a strong impacton their academics, their work and their sociallives--many room with other athletes.

And while their reasons for coming to Harvarddiffer, several of the College's best athletesgave up scholarship offers and sacrificed some oftheir athletic aspirations to come here.

Right after Thomas E. McConnon '96, a member ofHarvard's cross country team, settled into hisroom in Hollis Hall, he began practicing with histeam.

Practices didn't abate once school started.McConnon runs two hours a day during the week, andon Saturdays mornings, the team runs at WaldenPond.

McConnon, who is from Halifax, Nova Scotia,came to Harvard in part, he says, because CoachFrank Haggerty "recruits a lot of Canadians." ButMcConnon says he also decided to enroll for theschool's academic reputation, and that travel andthe other demands of his sport have taken theirtoll on him.

"You can't get much done on the bus, and theclasses you miss Thursdays and Fridays hurt," saysMcConnon, who adds that his sports commitment hasmade him a better organized student. "Theacademics ruin you for running: too little sleep,too much stress."

The time demands of their rigorous athletic andacademic schedules is a constant source of tensionin their lives, these athletes say. The issue hasrepeatedly been discussed by the athleticdepartment and the Standing Committee onAthletics, a Faculty group that oversees theathletic department.

"Athletics are an important part of a youngperson's life," says Associate Professor ofMechanical Engineering Howard A. Stone. "But if ayoung person wants to grow as a whole person theyneed to study."

Varsity lacrosse and field hockey player SarahW. Downing '94, of Topsfield, Mass., says that thelong seasons sometimes cause her to feel "a littleout of my classes." She says that during lastyear's lacrosse season, when the team was rankednumber one in the nation and advanced to the NCAAfinals, she missed five or six Fridays' worth ofclasses. And catching up on work can be tough.

"It's a factor of just fatigue," says Downing."You come back from practice, and all you want todo is climb in bed. It's tough to go to work atyour desk."

At the same time, Downing and many otherathletes say the time pressure caused by theirathletic commitment makes them better, moreproductive students.

"[Athletics] really helps me to organize mytime, forces you to get work done," says Downing."I do better in classes in season."

Marshall S. Burroughs '94, a member of thevarsity tennis team, missed more than two weeks ofclasses last year. That's because the team wasbusy racking up frequent flyer miles.

By year's end, it will have traveled toKentucky, Texas, West Virginia, San Diego, theUniversity of California at Irvine and, if itqualifies for the NCAA tournament, Georgia inMay--during exam period.

"It's obviously hard to study on trips whenyou're in a hotel," says Burroughs. "Last year, wehad to take exams at the NCAA tournament."

In addition to the academic opportunitiesHarvard offers, some students said they chose thecollege for the unique athletic experience aswell. Many of these athletes say they feared theywould be lost in the more competitive athleticprograms of bigger schools while Harvard allowsthem to be a big fish in a relatively small pond.

"If I went to play at other schools, it'shighly unlikely that I would be in a startingposition," says Honolulu native Clifford H. Chen'95, a goalie for the men's water polo team whowas recruited by the University of California atLos Angeles and at Berkeley. "[There is] too muchcompetition there."

The unique pressures of playing anintercollegiate sport at Harvard have led manyathletes to stick together. The majority ofstudents interviewed for this article said theyroom with at least one other athlete.

Some first-year athletes say the friendshipsthey make through athletics make the transition tocollege life easier.

"I wouldn't have met as many upperclassmen ifit weren't for volleyball," says Jennifer Jose'96, a women's volleyball player from Napa, Calif."[There is] lots of stress at the beginning of theyear, and it gives you something that's definite."

"As a freshman coming in it was good to havethe team," says Downing. "You immediately knewpeople and were introduced to the people they werefriends with."

"Most of the people that I know and spend anytime with are my teammates," she says.

The result of many of these early friendships,athletes say, is that students participating inintercollegiate sports tend to live together. A1989 study of Harvard houses performed by theoffice of Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57showed that before non-ordered choice, certainhouses had much higher percentages of athletes.The population of one house was 67 percentathletes, more than twice the mean, while anotherhad just 10 percent.

"I don't really know why that is," saysBurroughs. "Maybe athletes tend to be able toidentify with each other more because of thethings they go through in their different sports."

Many of Harvard's most accomplished athleteswere courted by schools offering athleticscholarships. For them, the decision to attendHarvard was complicated by finances.

Michael R. Giardi '94, second team All-IvyLeague quarterback for the varsity football teamand shortstop for the baseball team, was offered ahalf scholarship to play baseball at theUniversity of North Carolina. With thescholarship, one year's tuition at Harvard wouldhave paid for his entire education at UNC.

Giardi, who is from Salem, Mass., turned downthe offer, he says, because he was a longtime fanof Harvard sports and had wanted to attend theCollege "since I was a little kid."

"It's costing me money to go here," saysGiardi. But he adds, "When you're on scholarship,they own you. There's no freedom. [At Harvard] ifI decide tomorrow I don't want to play a sport, Ican say that."

Jennifer A. Kearney '95, a three timeAll-America runner in high school, says she had tochoose between two different types of schools whendeciding where to attend college.

Kearney, whose best event is the mile, couldhave gone to "track schools" like Villanova orGeorgetown on athletic scholarship, where most ofher life would have revolved around athletics. Butshe chose Harvard, she says, for the academics andbecause she disliked the "athletic pressure" atother schools.

"Most of my friends from the track circuit wentto schools on scholarships," says Kearney. "Senioryear, when I told them I was going to Harvard, thereaction was not 'wow' but 'why?'"

Kearney says that it has been difficult to meether own expectations in academics while improvingas a runner. But she says she has been encouragedby the record of Olympian Meredith Rainey '90, andmay train for the Olympics after graduation.

"The Olympics are well-situated," says Kearney."I have a year after I graduate to train, and Ithink I can make a big jump then."

Burroughs, from Raleigh, N.C., receivedscholarship offers from Duke University, theUniversity of Virginia and the University of NorthCarolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. His brother andfather attended UNC, but he came to Harvardbecause the school offered both a top-20 tennisprogram and a first-class education.

"The education is obviously the best you canget in the country," says Burroughs. "Going herewould probably present me with more opportunitiesoverall than UNC would."

In the end, many athletes say they participatein intercollegiate athletes for the companionshipof their teammates. That makes the longest andmost grueling of practices worthwhile.

For Kossow, his season began four weeks ago, afact which means he will have a swimming meetnearly every weekend until March, in addition tohis weekly practice.

"I enjoy competition," says Kossow, who plansto concentrate in biology or anthropology. "Youget a team feeling, team camaraderie. You gothrough a lot together. You get good friends."

Elie G. Kaunfer contributed to the reportingof this story.PhotoJeannette VargasCrimsonSusannah Ross