Men Swim to Title

After a season filled victories over such swimming powers as Florida and Penn State, as well as a virtual domination of the Ivy League, the only appropriate way to end the season for the Harvard men's swimming team was a championship at the Easterns.

For the third straight year, the crimson outswam the rest of the Ivy League, bringing a championship home to Cambridge, as it placed first in the Eastern Championships, held this past weekend at Army in West Point, New York.

Harvard scored 867.5 points, over 100 points more than its closet competition, Princeton which finished with 756. Yale finished a distant third, with 557.5 points.

"We were confident going into the meet," junior Brian Livingston said. "We knew it would be tough, but we knew we could beat them."

Some of the swimmers went into the meet still smarting from their loss to Princeton in the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet on February 5.

"People were fired up because we lost against Princeton," junior Jan Esway said. "It made out victory even sweeter."

The team got off to a rocky start last Thursday, the first day of competition, finishing the day with a one point lead over Princeton.

"It was our weakest day," co-captain Richard Ou said.

Part of the problem was the controversial disqualification of Esway in the 200-yard individual medley qualifying race. His turn at the wall, during who which he had to change from backstroke to breaststroke, was judged illegal by the poolside official.

The disqualification of Esway, who would haveeasily qualified for the finals of the 200-yardmedley, cost the team 20 points, according to Ou.

Esway and the rest of the team wereincredulous.

"It was a very questionable call," Ou said.

"From what I saw on the videotape, [the turn]was perfectly legal," Esway said. "It was a callthat shouldn't have been made. I feel like I wasrobbed."

Esway earned a measure of revenge that eveningwhen he swam a pool record of 1:48.62 in the timetrial of the 200-yard individual medley thatpreceded the finals of the event.

The Esway incident also gave his teammates someextra motivation going into Friday's competition.

"The Esway disqualification was a wake-upcall," junior Dave Heilman said.

In Friday morning's qualifying round, the teamplaced all but one of its swimmers in the topeight of the various events.

"The key was that second morning," Heilmansaid.

Things kept rolling for the Crimson on Fridayevening, when John Blaney won the 400-yardindividual medley for the second straight year atthe Easterns.

Harvard followed this victory with a stunningwin in the 800-yard freestyle relay, whenLivingston--who had been shadowing his Princetonopponent throughout the last leg of therace--overtook him in the last 100 yards to winthe heat.

Harvard hadn't won the 800-yard relay in thepast eight years. Furthermore, Princeton hadpulled out all the stops to win the race,anchoring its relay team with its top 200-yardfreestyle.

"We didn't expect [the win]," Livingston said."I was pretty psyched. It was great for the team."

"That broke Princeton's back and got us firedup," Heilman said

The list of wins just kept growing for theCrimson. Ou won both the 100-and 200-yardbreaststroke, both times narrowly beating freshmanteammate Dave Schwartz.

Junior Tim Carver also set a pool record duringhis win in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of1:46.50. Livingston also swam an incredible500-yard freestyle race, winning it with a time of4:26.10

"In the last 100 yards, he was completelypossessed," Ou said. "He completely pulled awayfrom the competition."

Harvard saved perhaps its best race for last,when on Saturday afternoon the team of Carver,Esway, freshman Karl Scheer and Heilman won the400-yard freestyle relay, setting both a pool anda meet record in the process with a time of2:58.66.

"We had already won the meet at that point, butwe still wanted to win the last race," Esway said.

Princeton, whose strength is its relays, washoping to leave with a victory at least, but itwasn't to be.

"We touched them out, and twisted the knife intheir back," Esway said.

When the dust cleared, Harvard had won a totalof 11 races out of the 19 heats of the tournament,on win short of tying the record for events won atEasterns.

Once again, the closeness of the team helpedthe Crimson pull out its dominating victory.

"Everybody supported everybody else reallywell," Ou said. "We came together really well."

Next Monday, Harvard will find out which of itsmembers have qualified for the NCAA's. After thisweekend's performance, one can look forward tomany Crimson swimmers moving on to the toptournament in the country.Crimson File PhotoAng ShiThe Harvard men's swimming team flew aheadof all competitors.

The disqualification of Esway, who would haveeasily qualified for the finals of the 200-yardmedley, cost the team 20 points, according to Ou.

Esway and the rest of the team wereincredulous.

"It was a very questionable call," Ou said.

"From what I saw on the videotape, [the turn]was perfectly legal," Esway said. "It was a callthat shouldn't have been made. I feel like I wasrobbed."

Esway earned a measure of revenge that eveningwhen he swam a pool record of 1:48.62 in the timetrial of the 200-yard individual medley thatpreceded the finals of the event.

The Esway incident also gave his teammates someextra motivation going into Friday's competition.

"The Esway disqualification was a wake-upcall," junior Dave Heilman said.

In Friday morning's qualifying round, the teamplaced all but one of its swimmers in the topeight of the various events.

"The key was that second morning," Heilmansaid.

Things kept rolling for the Crimson on Fridayevening, when John Blaney won the 400-yardindividual medley for the second straight year atthe Easterns.

Harvard followed this victory with a stunningwin in the 800-yard freestyle relay, whenLivingston--who had been shadowing his Princetonopponent throughout the last leg of therace--overtook him in the last 100 yards to winthe heat.

Harvard hadn't won the 800-yard relay in thepast eight years. Furthermore, Princeton hadpulled out all the stops to win the race,anchoring its relay team with its top 200-yardfreestyle.

"We didn't expect [the win]," Livingston said."I was pretty psyched. It was great for the team."

"That broke Princeton's back and got us firedup," Heilman said

The list of wins just kept growing for theCrimson. Ou won both the 100-and 200-yardbreaststroke, both times narrowly beating freshmanteammate Dave Schwartz.

Junior Tim Carver also set a pool record duringhis win in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of1:46.50. Livingston also swam an incredible500-yard freestyle race, winning it with a time of4:26.10

"In the last 100 yards, he was completelypossessed," Ou said. "He completely pulled awayfrom the competition."

Harvard saved perhaps its best race for last,when on Saturday afternoon the team of Carver,Esway, freshman Karl Scheer and Heilman won the400-yard freestyle relay, setting both a pool anda meet record in the process with a time of2:58.66.

"We had already won the meet at that point, butwe still wanted to win the last race," Esway said.

Princeton, whose strength is its relays, washoping to leave with a victory at least, but itwasn't to be.

"We touched them out, and twisted the knife intheir back," Esway said.

When the dust cleared, Harvard had won a totalof 11 races out of the 19 heats of the tournament,on win short of tying the record for events won atEasterns.

Once again, the closeness of the team helpedthe Crimson pull out its dominating victory.

"Everybody supported everybody else reallywell," Ou said. "We came together really well."

Next Monday, Harvard will find out which of itsmembers have qualified for the NCAA's. After thisweekend's performance, one can look forward tomany Crimson swimmers moving on to the toptournament in the country.Crimson File PhotoAng ShiThe Harvard men's swimming team flew aheadof all competitors.