Eastern Seaboards Begin; Murphy to Lead Tankmen

Diver Bill Murphy is the only probable winner, but the varsity swimming team has several other men who may also do exceptionally well in the 29th Annual Eastern Seaboards Championships, which start today at Yale. The Elis are expected to win their seventh consecutive title.

Murphy, Eastern champ in the three-meter dive two years ago, has just perfected a double-twist dive for use in the one-meter competition. "Bill looks really loose and his timing is great," assistant coach Benn Merritt said last night. "With this new dive, I expect him to win the one-meter as well as the three-meter," Merritt said.

Sophomores Steve Krause and Mike Cahalan are two others who have a chance to win an event, but unlike Murphy, they are not favored.

Krause, who scored 91 3/4 points during the season, will compete in the 200-yard individual medley, the 500-yard freestyle, and the 800-yard freestyle relay during the three-day championships. Krause will be unable to swim in the 400-yard individual medley, in which he once held the world record, because it immediately precedes the relay.

Cahalan, who was recently elected next year's captain, is one of the strongest entrants in the freestyles at 50 and 100 yards, and will also swim on the 400-yard freestyle relay team.

Cahalan, who holds the Harvard record of 21.8 in the 50-free, is better at 50 yards than at 100. "Pete Heesch of Army will probably be the man to beat," Cahalan said. Merritt agreed, but said, "Mike's ready to move; he should be right up there."

Strong Relay Teams

Aside from these three individuals, Harvard's hopes of an impressive team performance rest on the freestyle relay teams at 400 and 800 yards. The 400 team is composed of Cahalan, John Bragg, Dave Powlison, and Toby Gerhart. Bragg, Powlison, and Gerhart also swim on the 800 quartet, joined by Krause.

Though these championships have been held for 29 years, only in the last eight years has a team trophy been awarded. Harvard's last great team, the undefeated 1962 squad, finished third, but the Crimson has not come in higher than sixth since then. "Since they've been scoring on a team basis, we have been degenerating," Merritt said last night.

Merritt is much more optimistic about this year. "We should be a heck of a lot higher than we've been for some time," he said. The assistant coach feels the team could finish third or fourth among the nine Eastern League teams.

Today's events are the 400-yard medley relay, the one-meter diving, and the 50-yard and 500-yard freestyles.