Sweating It Out

You know who they are--in fact, you probably make jokes about them. They wear grey sweats all the time, they consume obscene amounts of food, and their distinctly metallic-looking hair is usually wet--in the winter, frozen. I am talking about swimmers, women swimmers in particular.

Swimmers put more time and more effort into their sport than almost any other team on campus. From October right through March the swim team holds workouts twice a day, including weight sessions on Nautilus every afternoon. While most sleep through the early mornings, swimmers are doing their first workout from 6:45 to 8:15 a.m., and afternoons they return for another two-to three-hour session. On an average day each swimmer does about 400 laps of a 25-yard pool in varying combinations of strokes and intervals, staring at the black line on the bottom of the pool in a sort of mindless trance. Could you do that?

Early on swimmers learn to cope with the disbelief of friends who cannot comprehend rising at 4:45 a.m. for workouts; friends who can't understand why a workouts; friends who can't understand why a workout might come before a vacation; and friends who continually ask, "Don't you ever get tired of swimming?" or "Are you going to the Olympics?"

Rewards come more slowly to swimmers than to, say, hockey players who can score goals and assists, or to basketball players who can talk about point totals or rebounds. A swimmer often goes through months, or even years, of plateaus where times just cease to improve and discouragement mounts. When a time suddenly drops, or a swimmer records a personal best, few people aside from parents or members of the same team congratulate them. To the uninitiated, a swimming meet holds all of the excitement of watching the snow fall. Consequently, only spectators who can appreciate fast splits, or the guts that go into a close 1650-yard race, show up to cheer.

"But," you will argue, "I went to the men's meet against Indiana last year to see the Crimson snap Doc Counsilman's long winning streak in a fabulous contest." Ah--but that was the men. I'm not saying that they have any problem getting spectators. Any team that has the Harvard band play for them, that charges admission, and that sells tickets to big meets, does not need help getting fans.

Take last Saturday. The men's meet against Navy featured such complete domination by Harvard that coach Joe Bernal had people swimming their worst events so as not to completely humiliate the Midshipmen. The only excitement of the day came from watching freshman Ben "Iron Man" Downs swim every single event of the meet in a successful effort to break a record set by another Harvard swimmer two years ago.

But that didn't deter droves from watching the men compete in a profoundly boring meet. The spectators paid their money, watched the meet, then left in a great exodus before the really exciting meet of the day began at 4 p.m. when the women's team swam the University of Maine.

Before a sparse crowd consisting of mostly Maine supporters and parents of Maine swimmers who live in Massachusetts, the Crimson aquawomen swam an excellent meet and emerged victorious two-and-a-half hours later by the paltry margin of one point.

If the promise of close meets can't lure you to Blodgett to see the aquawomen, then maybe some of the individuals on the team who have registered outstanding performances can. Take freshman Jeanne Floyd for example. A native of Portola Valley, Calif., Floyd powered her way to three first-place finishes last week against Maine in the 100-, 200-, and 500-yd. freestyles--her three wins qualifying her for the Eastern Seaboard Championships in March.

Debbie Zimic, another freshman, also debuted with a splash this fall. Blessed with talent in all four strokes, Zimic has swum well in all events ranging from 500 free to 100 back. Although her real strength lies in the Individual Medleys, she will probably be called upon to help fill the gaping hole in the Crimson backstroke lineup.

For the first time ever, the aquawomen also boast a bunch of sophomores who can be counted upon to perform consistently well. Terri "Tune" Frick shone in the season opener against B.U., with strong swims in the 400 I.M. and the 200-yard butterfly, and has finished close behind Zimic and Floyd in several freestyle events.

Last year, "Stormin' Norma" Barton and Kathleen McCloskey often vied for supremacy in the butterfly events, with Barton usually eking out the majority of the wins. But now that Barton has hung up her goggles, McCloskey seems the clear favorite in the sprint fly events--perhaps even in the grueling 200-yard race.

Led by junior Pam Stone and sophomore Adriana Holy, this year's diving corps also has exceptional strength. Although she suffered a serious fall from a three-meter board this summer, Stone has battled her way back to finish either first or second to Holy all fall in the one-meter and three-meter diving events. And just last Saturday, Holy took the one-meter contest against Maine in a brilliant performance.

This afternoon the women will meet Manhattanville College at 2 p.m. at Blodgett. If none of the above reasons has convinced you to come watch, then at least come down to see Blodgett. Costing several million dollars, the Harvard swimming complex rivals even the best East German training facilty for swimming wunderkinder.