Climbing out of the pool after turning in the best individual performance by a Harvard swimmer at NCAAs in more than a decade, John Cole was first congratulated not by his coach or teammate but by an official timer who happened to be by his lane.

“You know,” the timer said sardonically to the standout sophomore, “you’re from Harvard and you’re not supposed to do that.”

What Cole had done was place second in the 1650-yard freestyle (14:39.71), finishing two seconds behind 2000 Olympic medallist Erik Vendt (14:37.48) and with a time ten seconds better than his previous Harvard record (14:49.48). Cole’s second-place finish is the best showing by a Harvard swimmer on the national stage since David Berkoff ’89 won the 100-yard backstroke at the 1989 NCAA Tournament.

Cole, unsure of how to accept the odd compliment, merely smiled and reflexively thanked the timer. Though he was slightly taken aback by the congratulatory greeting, it wasn’t the first time Cole had heard the “Harvard” angle before.

“During the whole tournament, I definitely got the ‘Harvard’ thing a lot,” Cole said. “In fact, a certain swimmer from a powerhouse school even boasted that he would beat me just because I was from Harvard.”

Defying the expectations of pretty much everyone except himself, his coach Timothy Murphy and fellow Crimson NCAA entrant junior Dan Shevchik, Cole excelled in his typically muted, low-key style.

“He doesn’t do anything too flashy, but he really is very solid,” Shevchik said. “[In each event], he started a little slow and then methodically mowed down people. He’s a strong back-half swimmer.”

Cole’s stamina and ability to finish strong was crucial in his two All-American performances. In the 500 free on Friday, Cole fell behind early to swimming phenoms Klete Keller and Vendt. Slowly but surely, Cole swam his way to an personal best mark of 4:16.91 while taking third in the event behind Keller and Vendt.

Cole’s finish should not have shocked spectators, though, because in the morning heat, he had beaten Keller and came within three-hundreths of a second of beating Vendt. Despite the portent of things to come, no one was prepared for Cole’s most impressive showing.

In the 1650 free, Cole began the race trailing Vendt, Keller, Georgia’s Robert Margalis and Michigan’s Brendan Neligan. By the 700-yard mark, Cole had gathered enough strength and momentum to overtake and distance himself from Neligan and Keller. By the 1200-yard mark, Cole had left Margalis in his wake.

Now, the stage was set. Everyone was fixated on the surprising underdog Cole and his increasing pace. With each turn, Cole closed in on Vendt and the PA announcer even got in on the drama, yelling, “Does John Cole have time to catch Vendt?” with each passing leg of the race.

Unfortunately for Cole, time indeed ran out and he had to settle for an impressive second place finish. Another couple hundred of yards and who knows; perhaps Cole would have, as one official joked to him, “turned the swimming world on its ear with a Harvard win.”

Cole’s success at NCAAs belies his contributions to a Harvard swim team that is quickly establishing itself as a national power.

“John has had a great impact on the program in his two years at Harvard,” Shevchik said. “Just in the last few days, I’ve gotten email from potential recruits who are excited about his strong showing at NCAAs.”

“After all, it is impressive when you can finish in top 25 in the team rankings by yourself,” Shevchik jokingly added. Cole single-handedly amassed 33 points, more than 14 of the 35 schools could muster as teams.

And what does the future hold for such a talented swimmer? An NCAA title? An Olympic medal?

“He’s already a world-class swimmer and definitely has a good shot at the Olympics in 2004,” Shevchik said.

But whether or not the young freestyle specialist has an Olympic medal in his future, Harvard already knows, based on his amazing performance this past week at NCAAs, that Cole is as good as gold.