Mermen Win; Upset Penn, 58-55

Behind 48-31 to a strong Penn squad, and seemingly out of contention, the Harvard swimming team fought back with two consecutive sweeps, a 2-3 in the 3-meter dive, and a bizarre, almost miraculous win in the freestyle relay, to nip the Quakers, 58-55 at the IAB.

The Crimson never had the lead at any point during the meet, but they refused to fold, even when the visitors took a commanding lead. Their perseverance paid off.

An easy 1-2 by Fred Mitchell and Rich Baughman in the 500 yd. free preceded a thrilling Harvard sweep in the 200 yd. breastroke. Dave Brumwell, after swimming two tough races, came on strong to win that race, while senior Pete Mikhalevsky, swimming his last home meet and fighting off sickness, snuck up in the outside lane to take the all-important second.

In the 3-meter dive, the Harvard divers, who had their best day of the season, came through when they had to. A second by Dave Silver and a-third by Tom Wallace forced the meet down to the final relay.

With both squads on their feet chanting "Go, go, go," and the crowd screaming hysterically, Harvard's Fred Mitchell and Penn's Bob Atkinson took the blocks. Mitchell false started. But finally the race began, with Mitchell giving the Crimson a slight lead going into the second leg.

A close race, and very possibly a Penn victory in the relay and the meet, dissolved when the Quakers' second man. Crooks, completely missed the wall on a turn.

Penn's Mistake

The mistake gave Harvard a commanding lead in the race, and caused mass hysteria on the Harvard bench. The Penn team, defending Ivy and Eastern champions was stunned by their third loss of the season and stood quietly, hoping their last two men could close the gap.

However two superb efforts by Penn's Pat Gallagher and Ted Kreibel, both swimming legs well under 48.0 seconds, were not enough, as Harvard swam its best relay of the year, en route to its most impressive victory of the season.

Although the times were not the best of the season, the performances by the Crimson swimmers, who have performed courageously in every meet, were amazing enough. Fred Mitchell, who lost for the first time all year in the 200 yd. free, swam three good races. Dave Brumwell, though losing a tough I.M., and tiring in the butterfly, came back to win the breastroke.

Most incredible were the efforts of Rich Baughman, Baughman, who is undefeated in the 1000 yd. free, won that race, and moments later he swam the next race, the 200 yd. free in a good time of 1:50.0, place fourth. He later added a second in the 500 yd free.

Perhaps the most unsung efforts of the afternoon were turned in by co-captain Paul Horvitz, Swimming in his last home meet, Horvitz took the 50 yd. free, in the opinion of most observers, but wound up a disappointing second behind teammate Tim Neville. His time varied from a very fast 21.9 to an unrealistic 22.2 Horvitx came back in the 100 yd. free to take a fast third, and later swam a leg on the victorious relay.

Gambril Is Jubilant

A jubilant Don Gambril had praise for his team, especially the divers, who scored 8 important points, and for the Penn team--which he termed the team to beat at the Easterns.