Eight Aquamen Bound for NCAAs

Northeast Ohio's ecological monument, the Cuyahoga River, catches fires only during the summer months, when the semi-aqueous waste products from the area's heavy industries are most flammable.

But the water at Cleveland State's Natatorium will be sizzling this weekend when the nation's top collegiate swimmers and divers compete there in the annual NCAA Championship Meet.

Tennessee, who last year won its first-ever title, is favored to repeat as champion. Florida, the University of California at Berkeley, USC, and UCLA are expected to battle each other for the runner-up spot.

Harvard finished 15th in 1978. The return this season of all of last year's point-scorers (Bobby Hackett, Malcolm Cooper, and the 800-yd. freestyle relay team), and the addition of world-class backstroker Ron Raikula make the Crimson's chances of equaling or improving upon that performance appear solid.

Hackett's Health

A major threat to Harvard's maintaining its position in the top 20 is the health status of sophomore superstar Bobby Hackett, who scored 27 of the team's 31 points last year.

Flu weakened the former Olympian at the Eastern Championships three weeks ago and markedly hampered his performance there.

A recent preliminary diagnosis by hematologists at Boston Children's Hospital indicates that Hackett has a rare blood ailment which severely limits his ability to recover quickly from viral infections. The disorder raises serious questions as to whether the distance ace can possibly be in top form this weekend.

"I feel fine. It took me a week or so to get over it after the Easterns. I was really run down. But now all I'm worried about is Brian Goodell," Hackett said hopefully from Cleveland yesterday, referring to the soon-to-be-renewed rivalry with his old nemesis from California.

Goodell outsprinted Hackett at the end of the grueling 1500-meter freestyle for the gold medal at Montreal in 1976 and whipped him in a two-man dual for the 1650-yd. freestyle crown at the NCAAs last year. Hackett won the most recent skirmishes between the two this past summer though, touching ahead of the UCLA sophomore in the 200, 400, and 1500-meter freestyles at the outdoor national championships.

Even if Hackett is less than 100 per cent physically, he figures to be a major factor in at least two individual events, the 500-and 1650-yd. freestyles. He is not, however, the Crimson's only hope.

Senior co-captain Malcolm Cooper grabbed 11th in the 50 free last year and this week, as three-time qualifier, will be among the most experienced competitors in the field. This valuable seasoning is perhaps more critical in the "don't blink or you'll miss it" two-lap sprint than in any other event.

Dive

Jamie Greacen will make his fourth NCAA appearance when the one-meter springboard competition begins Thursday.

"Jamie's diving as consistently as he ever has right now," diving coach John Walker said recently.

Backstrokers Geoff Seelen and Ron Raikula and individual medleyist Mike Coglin all stand realistic chances of placing among the top 12 in their respective events, but each must better his qualifying time (recorded at the Easterns) if he expects to do so.

Raikula, because of his 17th place ranking on the World Best Time list this summer, must be considered the strongest candidate to score. The freshman from Kansas literally cruised to victory at the Easterns in the 200-yd. backstroke and later admitted that he "probably could have gone faster if I'd have paid less attention to the other guys in the race and worried more about what I was doing."

The Crimson freestyle relay entries, in both the 400 and 800, are darkhorse candidates at best. But, if Hackett can withstand the physical stress of swimming five events, and Coglin, Jack Gauthier, and Julian Mack are as sharp as they were at the Easterns, anything could happen. The 800 quartet surprised many in the swimming world last year when they finished 12th.

"We're better on paper than last year and have another year of experience behind us," Geoff Seelen said confidently from Cleveland yesterday. "There is no reason why we can't move up," he said.

If Hackett is well and the others rise to the occasion, Seelen's prediction seems realistic. That is, if coach Joe Bernal can sway his charges from the temptation of warming up in the Cuyahoga.