W. Swimming Flies Past Eagles

After racing back from Charlottesville, Va., for classes on Monday morning, yesterday's dual meet at Boston College was not the top priority for the Harvard women's swimming team.

The Crimson (5-0, 4-0 Ivy League), which finished second to No. 10 Virginia at UVA's Cavalier Invitational last weekend, sent the maximum 26 of its 43 swimmers to the dual meet at Chestnut Hill and the team returned with a 167-114 victory over the Eagles (1-3, 0-1 Big East).

"We were all really tired from Virginia and we knew Boston College wasn't a particularly strong team," co-captain Corie Calfee said. "So we went in just looking to get out of there with a win."

Calfee, who finished First-Team All-Ivy last year in the 100 breaststroke, won that event yesterday in addition to her specialty--the 100 individual medley. Her teammates chipped in with six other first-place individual finishes to maintain Harvard's undefeated record.

"We were tired so our times weren't as good as at Virginia," said freshman Lovisa Gustafsson, who won the 200 butterfly and the 500 freestyle. "But we're all happy to be 5-0 at this point."

In other events, sophomore Sarah Murphy took the 100 butterfly and freshman Rachel O'Beirne won the 200 breaststroke.

A pair of Harvard rookies dominated the freestyle sprint events. Victoria Cheng had the fastest 200-meter time while Christin McConnell was first in the 100-meter race.

"I swam against the same B.C. girl in both the 50 and finished second," McConnell said. "I knew she had a lot of early speed, so I was more confident in the 100. When I was able to hang with her in the first 25 meters, I knew I could beat her."

McConnell gave the Crimson another victory in the 400 medley relay, along with Murphy, O'Beirne and junior backstroker Angie Peluse.

The victory over the Eagles puts the Crimson halfway through its schedule, and its next meet won't be until Dec. 20 against UC-San Diego. The team will be in San Diego from Dec. 17 to 23, where it will have the luxury of actually swimming in outdoor pools.

Harvard will begin heavy training today to get ready for the trip. The team is hoping that its success in dual meets and at the Cavalier Invitational will carry through the California trip and into the new year, when the Crimson will have three more Ivy games before it hosts the conference championships at Blodgett Pool.

"The season has gone very well so far," Peluse said. "I think we have a really good shot at the Ivy title this year, which would be the first time any of us has won it."

The team's hopes have been raised since the Crimson beat Brown 193-106 at Blodgett on Nov. 19. The Bears are the defending Ivy champions. For Harvard to complete a perfect conference schedule, the Crimson must defeat Penn, Yale and Princeton in meets at Blodgett after the break.