Mermen Forsee Strong Season

With a strong group of upperclassmen returning, several promising freshmen, and an outstanding new coach in Dan Gambril, fans of Harvard swimming have good reason to be optimistic about the coming varsity season.

Because of a new Ivy League rule instituted this year, freshmen will be allowed to compete on the varsity squad, and Gambril has attracted one of the better groups of swimmers to come to Harvard in recent years.

Unlike a majority of the returning varsity, most of the freshmen swam on AAU or club teams during the summer, and have come to school with a definite training edge: One freshman, Dave Brum well, was a member of the Canadian national team that went to the Pan American games in South America this summer.

Rinky Dinks

Judging from the performances in the freshman-upperclassmen intersquad meet last Friday, a meet billed as the "Rinky-Dinks" versus the "Heroes", the team appears strongest in the freestyle events.

Sophmore Fred Mitchell, in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle, is returning from an excellent freshman season and a strong summer of training. He appears to be in midseason form.

In the sprints, freshman Tim Neville, Co-Captain Paul Horvitz, and Chris Baird give the team a strong contingent, and good depth. In the distance freestyle, freshman Richard Boughmar had the best performance in the inter-squad meet.

There is good depth in the freestyle events, but the loss of Henry Watson and Mike Cooke has hurt. Cooke, who trained all summer, will be sorely missed, Gambril said, because of his scoring potential in three events. Watson, who trained with Gambril this summer in California, was a constant threat in the 1000 yard freestyle, and at one point was ranked fifth in the nation in the one-mile swim.

In the specialty strokes, the team has been bolstered by the return of Craig Sewell in the butterfly, and the addition of Brumwell in the Individual Medley: With Timur Chetin returning in the I.M. and breastroke, and Co-Captain Dan Kobick in the backstroke, the specialty strokes look strong, but perhaps not as strong or as deep as the freestyle.

The team seems to be adjusting to the new coach, and if the new freshmen reach their potential, the upperclassmen are able to work themselves into good shape, and the team can avoid the personal and morale problems which hurt its performance last year, this year's swimming season should be a rewarding one.