'Cliffe Tankers Triumph At Four-Way Swim Meet

The Radcliffe swim team made its second splash of the season Saturday and took first place at a four-way meet held at the University of Rhode Island.

'Cliffe swimmers trimmed seconds off their previous record times in several individual events to pile up 139 points. 27 points ahead of second-place Brown. The University of Maine and Rhode Island placed third and fourth respectively.

"The quality of swimming was better all the way around than it was at this meet last year," Coach Alice McCabe said yesterday. "I think all these schools are taking a greater interest in women's swimming and the field is definitely stronger."

The Radcliffe team was star-studded, with eight first-place performances in the meet's 13 events. Juniors RoAnn Costin and team captain Connie Cervilla accounted for four first places. "These girls just never seem to peak," McCabe said. "I think they could do almost anything they want."

Cervilla streaked ahead of all challengers in the 50-yd. butterfly, and turned in a time of 29.3, her best performance of the year. She broke another of her records in the 100 fly to rack up another first for the 'Cliffe.

Costin swept away top individual honors in the 100 and 200-yd. freestyle events, with times of 2:08.4 and 58.5 respectively. "She really looks strong, especially at this point in the season," McCabe said.

Jeannie Guyton, a sophomore and a member of last year's B-team, "did great things" in the 50-yd, backstroke, McCabe said, to register her first win on the varsity squad. Nancy Sato's diving was also true-to-form, giving Radcliffe the top award in that event.

The relay teams--the most promising races in the Cliffe's season-opening performance--were once again on the mark. Costin, Cervilla and Sato teamed up with Senior Jeannie Drew and Junior Laura Lennihan to swamp competitors in the 200-yd. medley and free-style relays.

McCabe said that she expects the team and individual times will continue to improve. "They're practicing every day now and they're practicing hard," she said.