Swim Team Picks Captains

The Harvard women's swim team named Sue Vassallo and Jane McNamara co-captains for the 1977-78 season at their year-end banquet last Friday night.

McNamara, a "butterfly-er" was a co-captain this year along with senior Jane Hendricks. Vassallo swims both the individual medley and the freestyle sprints. The two sophomores are roommates in Lowell House.

Vassallo said yesterday she is happy about the election. "I'm hoping that this means many different kinds or qualities of swimmers can be accommodated," she added.

Social Engineering

"We have a wide variety of talent on the swim team right now," she added. "So next year it'll be important to see that people's goals can be fitted to their abilities."

Vassallo has been swimming most of her life, and hails from a family of sibling swimmers.

McNamara is looking for an even better showing from the women's next season. "I think there'll be a lot of improvement in the program next year," she said yesterday. "We certainly improved a great deal this year and we're expecting some strong freshmen next winter--we should be moving up to a higher level in the future," she added.

Fun

McNamara is concerned more with the enjoyable aspects of the swim program than its competitive side. "We're more interested in getting some good physical exercise and having a good time. Competition is important, but is basically secondary," she said.

Like Susan Vassallo, McNamara comes from a big aquatic family. "There are eleven kids in my family--all swimmers. I've been swimming since I was six," she noted drily.

Coach Stephanie Walsh said yesterday she is happy about the choice because she finds both swimmers "easy to work with."

"The other swimmers look up to them," Walsh said, adding that the two women have been helpful in letting her know about the feelings of other team members--a task she regards as an important part of the captain's job.

Slump

The squad finished the past season with a 5-4 record, and then slumped to fourth place in the Ivy League Tournament and a disappointing 17th-slot finish in the Eastern aquatic get-together.

But Hendricks is the only 'Cliffe swimmer who will pick up a sheepskin in the spring, and a promising freshman class is scheduled to arrive in the fall to join the bevy of returnees.