Aquawomen Clip Eagles In Opener

The Harvard women's swimming team blew Boston College out of the water with a 197-99 massacre last night at Blodgett Pool.

Harvard hit the wall first in all 14 races except the 200-yd. backstroke and 100-yd. butterfly.

The first knock-out relay team of Mia Costello, Tri-Captain Linda Suhs, Sheila Findley and Mary Quinn sped through the 100-yd. medley relay for the win in a deja vu appearance as last year's defending Eastern Champion team.

The Crimson placed first and second in the 1000-yd. freestyle and swept the 200-yd. freestyle, with Tri-Captain Janice Sweetser finishing first, Stefanie Wreide nabbing second and Jenny Meyer trailing in third.

In the 100-yd. breaststroke, Costello stormed home in 1:06.67, more than three seconds ahead of teammate Anne Koerckel, who placed second. Costello is a two-time Eastern champion of the event.

Monopoly

At this point, Harvard was leading B.C. by 50 points. The Crimson soared ahead with another monopoly in the 200-yd. butterfly. Freshman Courtney Chubb pulled a stunning first career win in a brisk 2:07.21, trailed by classmate Stacie Duncan in second and Meyer in third. All of these times qualified the swimmers for Easterns.

Nina Anderson and Julie Hutchinson flew through the 50-yd. freestyle, handing Harvard another first and second place. Down 131-38, the Eagles went fishing for some points.

The B.C. women caught some big ones, reeling in two first places and hooking five out of seven second places. At this point, the Crimson entered some of its top swimmers under "exhibition" status, which meant they could not earn points for the team.

Why the sudden generosity?

"We put people in exhibition because we didn't want to run up the score too badly," explained Tri-Captain Karen Schneider. "It doesn't look good for either team."

Exhibition

Meyer, listed under exhibition status, nailed an unofficial first in the 400-yd. individual medley, breaking a dead heat with B.C. swimmer Nicole Engh in 4:37.36. The race was a flashback to the NCAA championships with the same two competitors duking for first.

Meyer squeaked it out again. Engh finished second, also unofficially. Harvard's Mary Ruppe won the event officially.

Sweetser nabbed a first in the 100-yd. freestyle race. Ruppe captured her second race of the day, the 200-yd. backstroke.

The Crimson finished the kill, taking first and second in the final relay, with Suhs, Costello, Sweetser and Kaari Reirson teaming up for first.

The Crimson holds high hopes for its freshmen.

"We have a great freshman class," raved Sweetser. "They did really well this meet for the first match of their careers."

The diving team, armed with new Coach Mike Kennedy, also made a splash against B.C. In the one meter event, Crimson diver Lisa Pierce won with a score of 227.23. Teammate Sarah Blake found second place, and B.C.'s Catherine Lucas took third.

For the three-meter event, Pierce emerged the victor again, this time with a new and improved 251.55 score. Julie Pawlek dove deep for second and Katie Higgins of B.C. grabbed third.

"Our diving looked good," said Pierce. "The mechanics are there. It's a matter of getting them clear and crisp."