Georgia Squad Had Swimming on Its Mind

Despite the cold weather, there was some fiery action down at Blodgett Pool this weekend. The event was the Harvard Invitational and the swimmers from perennial powers Georgia and Kansas were red hot.

Georgia was the combined (men's and women's) winner with 1534.5 points, beating Kansas by 83 points. Georgia also won the women's meet, defeating Harvard by 96.5 points, and drubbing Kansas by 179 points. In the men's meet, Kansas outdistanced Georgia by more than 96 points, and demolished third-place Arkansas by 504 points.

But the real stars of the meet were the Bulldogs. With their teammates continually barking in support of them, the Bulldogs consistently placed swimmers in the top three, and qualified more than eight people for the NCAA Championships. Georgia set school records in three events--the 400-yd. individual medley relay (3:19.41), the 200-yd. individual medley (1:51.32), and the 100-yd. breaststroke (:55.63).

"I really enjoyed my stay in `the fastest pool in the East'" Georgia's Derek Shipp said after eclipsing the Bulldog 400-yd. IM relay record.

"We are having a good day, but today [Friday] is our worst day. We should have even better days tomorrow [Saturday] and Sunday," said Georgia Assistant Coach Harvey Humphries, after two of his swimmers consecutively qualified for the NCAAs.

Kansas also qualified several swimmers for national competition.

But don't forget Harvard. The women "shaved" and "tapered" for the meet, going all out to win in their home pool. If one "shaves" one removes all the hair from the body in order to decrease drag. To "taper is to cut down on the length and intensity of practices before a meet so that one is rested for the meet.

The consequences of these two activities can be drastic. Junior Ken Johnson, the team's long-distance free-styler, said tapering and shaving can take up to four seconds off his 500-yd. time.

"It is sort of a psychological thing," Johnson said, "when you're shaved and rested you feel good, you feel ready, and you really want to go."

Johnson didn't get a chance to "feel good" this weekend because the men did not shave for this meet.

"[The men] just haven't got enough swimming base in them yet. It wouldn't be useful to have them shave and taper when they are not ready," Harvard Coach Joe Bernal said.

The men were not quite as competitive as the women were, but this certainly doesn't indicate a lack of strength.

"The team is young and has a lot of heart. What they lack in talent, they make up for in character," Bernal said.

There were some outstanding efforts--freshman Sumner Anderson shaved eight seconds off his qualifying time in the consolation final of the 400-yd. individual medley, Ken Johnson swam his best times of the season, and senior Co-Captain Keith Kaplan earned a respectable seventh in the consolation final of the 100-yd. freestyle. Paul Watson and Anderson were the only two men to reach the finals yesterday, both qualifying for the 200-yd. backstroke final.