Aquawomen Swamp Terriers, Grab First GBC Crown Ever

Swimming to the familiar strains of Harvard's quasi-fight song "Screw B.U.," the 7-3 Crimson aquawomen showed impressive depth in defeating several area schools and winning its first ever Greater Boston Championship yesterday at Northeastern University.

Harvard finished the meet with 395 points, compared with 368 for B.U., 322 for Boston College, 176 for Northeastern, 110 for MIT, 107 for Tufts, and 4 for Brandeis.

Although the meet included participants from seven area universities, the Harvard team viewed the competition as a virtual dual meet with Boston University, which had defeated the aquawomen 75-76 earlier this season to hand Harvard its first loss.

Absent-Minded Officials

Meet participants had only a hazy idea of the actual score at any point during the competition because of the officials' failure to announce the tally, but after the final results were published it became clear that the meet had been a virtual tie between Harvard and the Terriers, at least until the last two events.

Although the swimmers and coaches remained in the dark as to the exact score, they easily sensed the excitement of a meet which saw two ties and at last six changes of the lead.

Until the penultimate 100-yd. breaststroke, neither B.U. nor Harvard led by more than 15 points (B.U. 62, Harvard 47 after the 200-yd. medley relay), and the difference rarely exceeded five points.

The Crimson's unexpected depth to a large extent provided the margin of victory. The meet awarded points for the top 12 places, so several Harvard eighth through twelfth place finishers provided needed and welcome points which would not have been awarded in a regular dual meet.

Besides the team's overall depth, it was Harvard's absolute mastery over the butterfly events that proved crucial. As they have been doing all season, freshmen McCloskey placed one-two in both the 50-and 100-yd. events, with Barton winning both in times of 27.80 and 59.75 seconds respectively. The points gained in the fly events were particularly important because of B.U.'s relative weakness in those events. Compared to Harvard's first, second, and seventh place finishes in the 100, B.U. swimmers could only manage third and eighth.

The Crimson divers, as usual, performed very well. Adriana Holy placed first in the one meter and third in the three meter, while Pam Stone finished second in both the one meter and off the high board.

Crimson swimmers turned in several other outstanding performances. The most impressive were third-seeded Janie Smith's runaway 1:02.89 victory in the 100-yd. individual medley, and Karen Chen's "super" second place finish in the 50-yd. breaststroke.

In fact, all of the "hapless and much maligned" Crimson breaststrokers more than held their own yesterday against B.U. opposition. Gwen Knapp placed eighth and Caroline Adams ninth in the 50, and Harvard competitors grabbed fifth, sixth and tenth in the 100-yd. event.

Also impressive were Maureen Gildea's close triumph in the 500-yd. freestyle and Kathy Davis' third-place finish in the 200 free. Both of these performances are noteworthy because both swimmers are swimming with injuries. Gildea has tendonitis in her foot, while Davis is competing with an injured knee.

The Crimson continues its dual meet season this Saturday against Yale in New Haven, where it will be underdogs against the Bulldogs.

Greater Boston Championships at Northeastern

1. Harvard, 395; 2. B.U., 368; 3. B.C., 322; 4. Northeastern, 176; 5. Tuffs, 107; 6. MIT, 110; 7. Brandeis, 4;

Three meter diving: 1. Veronica Ribot (BU), 427.65; 2. Pam Stone (H), 368.05; 3. Adriana Holy (H), 364.30; 4. Catherine Butler (BU), 344.20; 5. Leslie Hutton (NU), 289.90; 6. Becky Wright (NU), 251.40;

200 yd. medley relay: 1. BC, 1:57.93; 2. BU, 1:56.30; 3. NU, 2:01.06; 4. Harvard. 2:02.88; 5. MIT, 2:04.31; 6. Tufts, 2:04.48;

500 yard freestyle: 1. Maureen Gildea (H), 5:14.91; 2. Simone Carson (BC), 5:15.67; 3. Terri Frick (H), 5:21.38; 4. Pat Leahy (BU), 5:35.75; 5. Margot Abbott (BC), 5:40.77; 6. Jane Keith (NU), 5:45.04;

200 yard individual medley: 1. Randi Simon (BU), 2:17.09; 2. Karen Kilncewicz (MIT), 2:17.50; 3. Brenda Kay (Tufts), 2:21.37; 4. Stephanie Joyce (BC), 2:23.70; 5.Davis Wynne (H), 2:24.19; 6. Brenda Skelley (BU), 2:24.21;

100 yard freestyle: 1. Carol Keenan (BU), 56.64; 2. Janie Smith (H), 55:73; 3. Louise Cady (BU), 56.07; 4. Terri Frick (H), 56.48; 5. Kathleen McCloskey (H), 56.63; 6. Amy Stathoplos (BC), 59.48;

50 yard backstroke: 1. Shawn McCluskey (BU), 28.59; 2. Karla Weller (BC), 30.42; 3. Kathy Crehan (BU), 31.04; 4. Anne Twitchell (Tufts), 31.46; 5. Tricia Paine (NU), 31.36; 6. Gina Stuart (H), 32.49;

50 yard breaststroke: 1.Chris Hotarek (BC), 33.02; 2. Karen Chen (H), 33.07; 3. Colleen Brennan (BC), 33.55; 4. Terri Sullivan (BU), 33.75; 5.Laura Keiso (NU), 34.24; 6. Brenda Kay (Tufts), 34.41;