In their first major evaluation of this young season, the Harvard men's and women's swimming and diving teams travel this weekend to Virginia for meets with Virginia, Villanova and Florida State.

"This is one of our few opportunities to swim against nationally ranked teams," men's co-captain Dave Alpert said. "It's our only serious test before Easterns and NCAAs."

Both squads will face their most difficult opposition to date, making this weekend's contests significant reference points for the season at large.

For the defending Ivy and Eastern champion men, 17th-ranked but with definite Top-Ten aspirations, the November 22nd opener at Army with Columbia proved, almost too blatantly, that the off-season hasn't dulled last year's excellence.

The Crimson recorded 191-53 and 181.5-61.5 walkovers against the Cadets and the Lions, respectively, boasting top finishers in virtually every event.

Expect more tightly contested races at Virginia.

"The scores will be much closer this weekend," Alpert said.

Indeed, though Harvard matches up favorably against Virginia, whom the Crimson topped last season, and none-too-deep Villanova, it looks to powerhouse Florida State as a key early-season challenge.

The Seminoles sport a well-rounded roster and several international-caliber swimmers, among them Chip Haberstroh, Stephen Parry and fourth-place Olympic finisher Brendon Dedekind.

Harvard will mount its strongest challenges in the freestyle events. Sophomore sprinter Alex Kurmatov, junior Eric Matuszak--the defending Eastern champion in the 100 and 200 free--and junior Brian Younger, defending champion in the 1000 and 1650 free, lead the attack.

For the women, the weekend's action should prove equally crucial. Fresh from a narrowly fought seven-point loss at league rival Brown on November 24th, Harvard anticipates no letup at Virginia.

"Brown was our hardest league opponent and the meet could have gone either way," senior co-captain Emily Buckley said. "This meet should let us see where we are."

After that tight and trying Brown loss in which Harvard demonstrated competitiveness in winning several races by mere finger lengths and showed depth by taking both relays, the Crimson hopes for more generous breaks this time around.

Like their counterparts, the women more than compare with Virginia and Villanova, but await a national challenge from Florida State.

The Crimson turns to breast strokers Buckley and freshman Alexis Todor, as well as back strokers sophomore Christen Deveny and junior Stephanie Lawrence to pace the squad. Junior Keiko Iwahara, too, should extend her dominant presence in the freestyle sprints.

It's admittedly risky to use early-season engagements as barometers, but the Virginia trip, a rare out-of-league chance against high-level opponents, could offer some insight into the Crimson's fortunes.

"This meet is a midway point and it should show us what progress needs to be made," freshman Matt Krna said. "We have high expectations."

This weekend's foes, particularly Florida State, will test Harvard's mettle on the national scene and could prove an effective preview for the Crimson's year to come.