Swimmers Meet Penn Today; Freestyles Will be Decisive

Assured of a winning season by last weekend's victory at Cornell, the Harvard swimming team will be looking for a chance to turn an average season into a very good one when they face a tough Penn team at 2 p.m. in the IAB. It is the last home meet of the season.

A win would give the Crimson their sixth win against two losses, with a meet against Yale at New Haven concluding the regular season next week. It is, however, far from a sure thing. In fact, the meet is a virtual loss-up and could go either way.

Penn, a team that Harvard coach Don Gambril termed the "best balanced in the league", is the defending Ivy and Eastern champion, and although out of the race for the Ivy title this year, they are still a very talented squad.

Several things, however, will be working to Harvard's advantage this afternoon. The Quakers already have two losses on the year, and are probably pointing to the Easterns at Yale two weeks hence. Thus, if the Crimson can catch them on a less than spectacular day, they could take the meet. Harvard has the obvious home pool advantage, and the fact that Penn will arrive in Cambridge shortly before starting time may also have a detrimental effect on the Quakers' performances.

"If we get up, the way we did for Princeton," Gambril told his team yesterday, "we can beat them."

The Crimson's consistent strength in the freestyle events could provide the margin of difference. Harvard is counting on firsts in every freestyle race, but more importantly, it must couple these firsts with some seconds and thirds to offset Penn's strength in the specialty strokes and the relays. If the Crimson can take these races, as they did in the Princeton meet, they have an even chance against Penn.

In fact the Crimson's chances for a win look better against Penn than they did against the Tigers because Princeton's crushing 16-2 diving sweep won't be repeated by the Quakers. "That alone will help us," said Gambril.

"We will be hard pressed," admitted Gambril yesterday. "Our hope is to force the meet down to the last relay."