Yale Aquawomen Sink 'Cliffe

Psych was the word, as the Radcliffe swim team emerged from the locker room donning "Whale Yale" T-shirts. The team considered this foe their toughest competitor of the season and had been practicing strenuously in preparation for the big showdown.

But wait. Echoed from within the visitor's locker room and out marched 20 piping Elis, chiming away their "Hail Yales". All this song and cheer seemed more like improvisational theater than a swim meet, but the Yale tunes seemed to bring luck. The Elis came out singing "We have Overcome," as they sunk a strong Radcliffe team 80-51 last night at the IAB.

An additional spark to this spirited free-for-all pitted freshman Elsbeth Farmer of the Radcliffe squad opposite her identical twin Sarah, who swims for Yale.

The format of this meet was different from most, replacing 200-yard with 400-yard relays, and stretching most 100-yard events to 200. The opening event was the 400 medley relay and the Yale aquawomen flew into the lead.

But luck was still with Radcliffe as the opponents were disqualified on an illegal turn. The 'Cliffe relay of Kris Krendl, Sue Sawyer, Nancy Danoff, and Reed Sutherland took the race with a time of 4:55.63.

Nabbing Seconds

Captain Maureen Murphy grabbed second place and junior Carol Robey took fourth in the 200 freestyle. Murphy also nabbed second place finishes in the 100 and 500 freestyle. Her time for the 100, 1:02.49, and her 500, 6:18.04, are her best to date.

Laurie Downey swam her way to three top notches in the 200 IM (2:17.53), 50 free (26.89), and 200 back (2.18.89). She said after the meet, "It was an encouraging meet. We were closer to them than we expected to be."

After the first six events, the score was Radcliffe 27, Yale 25, but the longer individual events were yet to come. From here on the Radcliffe squad took a plunge from which they never returned, although they struggled admirably to reach surface.

Yale took first and second in both butterfly events, but Reed Sutherland and Sue Sawyer splashed to impressive third-and fourth-place finishes.

Another bright spot in the night's contest was freshman diver Kathy Lindenthal who snatched top awards in both diving events with Charlise Brown of Yale taking second.

In the freestyle races, freshmen Sue Vassallo and Elsbeth Farmer along with Jane McNamara in the longer events, turned in strong performances.

Coach Stephanie Johnson was ecstatic about her team's achievements. "It was a super meet," she said. "We swam much better than we though we would." Almost all aquawomen bettered their previous best times.

Team member Anne Singer agreed, "Everyone swam very well. It's just that the Yale squad has a number of exceptional swimmers."

Impressive Swimmers

Yale coach Ed Bettendorf stated his pleasure in the performance of his team, saying he had not expected to sweep the meet easily, and was impressed by the Radcliffe swimmers.

"The team is very unified and the members are supportive of each other," commented Richards. "They know how to swim a good meet."

A good meet it was, but no cigar. Maybe next time, with a few gusty Harvard songs...