The secretary of the Rhoces Scholarship Trustwas quoted in the Guide to Grants as attributing the shift away from intercollegiate sports in Rhodes qualifications to increased demands on college athletes.

"College athletics (varsity teams) have taken on a professional orientation, they have become more time-consuming, and the students who excel on the teams rarely achieve an academic record high enough for the Rhodes competition."

But while the Rhodes may have largely abandoned the notion the a healthy body and mind are inextricably interdependent, some athletes say that far from distracting them from schoolwork, varsity sports actually help students focus.

"Sports make you very disciplined in all aspects of your life," says swimmer Benjamin T. Odell '98.

Athletic commitments require tight scheduling by students, adds Elizabeth Gettelman '96, who plays basketball and rows.

"Coming to college it's easy to procrastinate,"she says. "But with sports, you have scheduled commitments. You know exactly how much time you have to do your homework."

It's not easy, though. Field hockey's O'Brien says the strain can be intense.

"The fall of my sophomore year, I was taking several pre-med requirements and playing field hockey," O'Brien says. "That was really demanding, really tough."

And sometimes sacrifices are required of would-be scholar-athletes who want to achieve to their highest potential on all fronts.

"A lot of people who are really smart and work really hard don't have the time to work as hard as you need to to really excel here," says swimmer Joshua L. Adams '97. "It's a choice."

"I don't even consider if it's worth it," Adams continues. "Swimming is a part of me. I've done it every day year-round since I was nine years old. To me it's much more of a question if I'll swim at Harvard than if I'll swim."