Yale Swimmers Star in Final Easterns Session

Yale's swimmers went for the records, in the final session of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming Championships, Saturday night in the Blockhouse. They got them but they also got beaten in the 100 yard freestyle, to the infinite delight of the surprisingly small crowd.

Bob Kiphuth's team, prepping for the nationals at Columbia, took four of the seven events, giving the Blue ten of 14 for the meet. Pete Dillingham's second in the dive, a second place relay team, a second in the breaststroke and a third in the backstroke gave the Crimson second in the unofficial point totals, ahead of Navy, 38 to 30. Yale had 131.

Williams' Milward Martin and the Ell's undefeated Kerry Donovan put on the night's best race, in the 100 freestyle. The shorter stockier Donovan went ahead at the start and turns, but on the last 20 yards the faster Martin caught him and just touched the finish line first. His time of 50.3 broke the meet and pool record of 50.5, which he set in the afternoon's heats. Donovan did 50.4. Yale's defending champions, Don Sheff, took third with a 51.5. time. Dave Hedberg, ace Crimson sprinter, and fourth last year, failed to qualify in the afternoon heats.

Two Harvard records fell, although the best the Crimson could do was seconds. Don Mulvey broke a 17-year record when he did 1:00.4 in the 100 backstroke. The old record was 1:04.

And the medley team of Mulvey, Emerson, and Hedberg set a school record for that event by two seconds with a 2:53 clocking. The old time of 2:55 was set by Mulvey, Emerson, and Kon Huebsch. But Yale, in winning, established a pool and meet record. Kiphuth used Dick Thoman, Dennis O'Connor and Donovan in a try for the world's record. Except for two bad turns they might have had it, too. Their time was 2:48.4--1.3 off the record of Ohio State but two seconds under the other records set by recent Yale teams. Dillingham's last competitive dive in the Blockhouse earned him four eights and a seven from the judges, and second place behind Owen Davies of Navy, the defending champion. Davies accumulated 168.27 points to Dillingham's 161.55. Ken Welch of Yale, who took the low board title Friday, was third with 158.59 points.

Earlier in the evening, Emerson stayed with the Blue's O'Connor until the last lap, when the Ell junior opened a comfortable lead to win the 100-yard breaststroke. O'Connor did 1:00.5 for a pool record, Emerson was timed in 1:02.9. The Crimson's Ralph Zani, third in the 200 breaststroke, took fifth in the shorter distance, although his time was better than the fourth place finisher.

In the first event of the night, the 100 yard backstroke, the six foot four inch Thoman swam away from everyone to set an intercollegiate mark in 56.6. He held the old intercollegiate mark of 56.9, and currently has an application in for the world's record 56.5 held by Jack Taylor of Ohio State.

But Thoman didn't win everything. At the start of every race he waits superstitiously until all the other swimmers have dived in before entering the water. Before the 100 backstroke, everyone but Thoman and Mulvey jumped in. They stood there for a minute, and finally Mulvey jumped in, and Thoman followed him a second later. Later that night, at the start of the 300 medley, the same thing happened. Both stood there, with Thoman towering over the much smaller Mulvey. Finally after about two minutes, Thoman jumped in. Mulvey waited, then, grinning followed, as the crowd went wild.

As Kiphuth said, "that's one for you."

Yale, which swept the 220, and had taken first, second, and fourth in the 1500 meters, turned in another near perfect performance in the 440 freestyle. Jimmy McLane edged Captain Wayne Moore for first by eight-tenths of a second. McLane's time was 3:34.1, his best by three seconds all year. Australian John Marshall swimming for the first time in weeks, took third and the Blue's Marty Smith was fourth. Bill Yorzyk of Springfield was fifth.

John Mayers of Springfield captured the 150 individual medley in 1:34.2. Yale's two finalists, John Joslyn and Ken Abbe, had to settle for fifth and sixth.

The summary:

100-yard backstroke--Won by Thoman, Y;2, Witteried, Army; 3, Mulvey, H; 4, Curran, Fordham; 5, Kouch, Niagara. Time 56.6. (Intercollegiate, pool and meet record.)

100-yard breaststroke--Won by O'Connor, Y; 2, Emerson, H; 3, Douglas, Williams; 4, Bird, Navy; 5, Zani, H. Time 1:00.5 (Pool record.)

100-yard freestyle--Won by Martin, Williams; 2, Donovan, Y; 3, Sheff, Y; 4, Brisco, Brown; 5, Glover, Dartmouth. Time 50.3 (Pool and meet record.)

440-yard freestyle--Won by McLane, Y; 2, Moore, Y; 3, Marshall, Y; 4, Smith, Y; 5, Yorzyk, Springfield. Time 4:34.1.

150-yard individual medley--Won by Mayers, Springfield; 2, Pray, Amherst; 3, Swanson, Cornell; 4, Slack, Navy; 5, Joslyn, Y. Time 1:34.2.

Three meter dive--Won by Davies, Navy; 2, Dillingham, H; 3, Welch, Y; 4, Davis, Navy; 5, Christie, Princeton. Points 168.27.

300-yard medley relay--Won by Yale (Thoman, O'Connor, Donovan); 2, Harvard (Mulvey, Emerson, Hedberg); 3, Army; 4, Columbia; 5, Princeton. Time 2:48.4. (Pool and meet record.)