After an inspiring, consistent showing at the Eastern Women's Swimming League Championship at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool, the Harvard swimmers went to their year-ending dinner at Funtime Charlie's with their families.

After each swimmer took her turn speaking, Maura Costin Scalise, Harvard's coach for the past 13 years, stood up to deliver the shocking news--she is retiring to be with her four children and to run her family's nursing home on the North Shore.

"The room was a mess of people crying," said sophomore Cristen Deveney. "I think this serves as a testament to how great she's been. We will definitely miss her and her energy."

"She's a great role model," said junior Stephanie Lawrence, one of the two newly elected captains for the '97-'98 season.

"My years at Harvard have been rewarding and enjoyable," said Costin Scalise, who has compiled an astounding 105-20 record, producing seven Ivy League and four Eastern Championship titles in the process.

This year's youthful squad finished with a solid 7-4 mark, culminated by the fourth place finish at Princeton. Harvard was no match, however, for the deep squads of repeat-champion Brown (738 points) and Princeton (681). The blue-and-white rivals from New Haven also edged out the Crimson's 444 point finish with a 475 total. Overall, 11 schools competed in the event.

Individually, Harvard's swimmers had to compete with the likes of Cristina Teuscher--a Columbia freshman who was an Olympian last summer and has been named the Eastern Swimmer of the Year and Brown's Kari Klassen and Katie Cowan, both of whom captured two events.

In addition, Lawrence pointed out that this was a "really fast meet", meaning that many Crimson swimmers notched personal best times, but were still unable to garner any individual medals.

Nevertheless, Harvard had a number of strong showings at the meet. Senior diver Kara Miller captured third in the three-meter event, and second in the one-meter, where she missed the top of the podium by less than one point. Both performances earned Miller the First Team All-Ivy honors.

Also for the Crimson, freshman Alexis Todor captured second in the 200 breaststroke to gain Second Team All-Ivy honors. Todor was Harvard's top individual scorer at the meet with 42 points.

Harvard freshman Nancy Jo took third in the 200 freestyle and was part of the 800 and 200 freestyle teams that also placed third. In the 800 relay, she teamed with junior Jennifer Steffen, freshman Heather Lindman and Deveney. In the 200, she led off a team that included Deveney and juniors Sandie Stringfellow and Keiko Iwahara.

The 1996-97 squad performed quite well considering its age, boasting nine freshmen on the 20-person roster.

"I am excited about the future of Harvard women's swimming," Costin Scalise said. "In addition to having 17 team members back next year, we've already received commitments from five recruits."

In the meantime, a nationwide search for a replacement to Costin Scalise is going to be conducted. One thing is for sure, her shoes are going to be tough to fill.