Swimming Team, Star-Studded but Thin, Should Outclass Springfield in Opener

The varsity swimming team goes to Springfield today to pick up its first victory of the season, but most of the team will be thinking about Saturday's meet with Army instead. Springfield is good, but only in its own league; last year the Crimson won nine of ten events and piled up a 75-20 score against the Maroons.

This year Coach Bill Brooks has one of the best balanced teams ever to swim at Harvard, but he will have to depend heavily on sophomores to improved on last year's record of six wins and four losses. In virtually every event the Crimson has at least one stellar performer, four of five of whom are sophomores. Already in excellent shape, the team might well win back its traditional position of being second only to Yale in the East.

Leading the team will be three proven winners, seniors Dave Abramson and Dan Mahoney and junior Bruce Fowler. Team captain Abramson, holder of the University record in the 500 yard freestlye, is also a regular winner in the 200. Mahoney is possibly the best diver in the East and Fowled last year won the Eastern Seaboard Championships in the 100 yard breaststroke.

Behind these three come a host of sophomores, some of whom may well push Abramson and Fowler out of the spotlight. In the freestlye events. Jim Seubold is a threat in both the 100 and the 200 yard races. As a freshman. he set a University record of 1:49.7 in the 200 freestlye, breaking the old record held by Abramson. Top man in the sprints may be another sophomore. Andrew Grinsted.

In the breaststroke Fowler will get stiff competition from sophomore Bob Corris, whose practice performances have been excellent. Together, they might make the toughest pair in the East in that event.

Backstroke Tony Fingleton, an Australian, didn't swim last year as a freshman, but is strong at both the 100 and 200 yard distances. He is supported by two juniors, Al Lincoin, the number two man last year, and Henry Welschel.

Perhaps the surest winner of all for the Crimson will be yet another soph. Neville Hayes, in the butterfly events. In 1960 Hayes was a world-record holder and won a silver medal for Australia in the Olympic Games in Rome. Last year he set Harvard and national freshman butterfly records on his way to an undefeated season.

Only in the medley is the Crimson without proven strength. Lettermen Earl Shoerman and Henry Frey are possibilities, as is last year's freshman captain, Al Rose, who also swims the butterfly. Brooks is famous for surprises, though, and almost anyone might turn up in this event during the season.

Harvard is definitely stronger than last year, but so is the rest of the league, especially Army, which may have its best team ever. Should the Crimson squeak past Army at West Point this Saturday, however, the team might even find itself in the race for the Eastern title.

Yale's Olympic stars will not be back until next semester and Army swims them in January. An Army victory then could give Harvard a tie with the Yalies. But that's long way off.