M. Swimming Drowns Brown, Looks to Beat Yale, Princeton

Put it this way: Brown hasn't beaten Harvard since 1992 and even then it was only by six points.

The margin was not as slim last weekend--the Harvard men's swimming and diving team (4-0, 4-0 Ivy) handed Brown a 181-119 defeat on Saturday. Although the competition started off slowly, the Crimson went on to capture eight out of nine events in the second half, securing yet another win for its undefeated season.

The victory should give the team momentum for this weekend as the Crimson heads to New Jersey for the highly-anticipated Harvard-Yale-Princeton competition. The Princeton Tigers also go into the meet undefeated and have never lost an Ivy dual meet in their home pool.

"I think the meet will set the team up nicely for HYP," said sophomore Dan Shevchik, who captured both the 100 and 200 backstrokes last Saturday. "Not necessarily because of how we swam--we had some good races and some bad races--but because Brown jumped out to a lead on us early." (The Bears secured the 1000 freestyle, the 200 free, and the 50 free before the end of the first half.)

Shevchik continued, "We weren't really challenged in our first 2 meets [a tri-meet against Columbia and Army, and then at Navy earlier this month], and I think it was good for our freshmen to realize that not all meets are going to go exactly according to plan. It was also a good indicator of what we have done well and what we need to sharpen up both for HYP and for Easterns."

The meet started out well enough as the team of senior Michael Im (currently ranked first in the country in the 200 backstroke in collegiate polls), freshman Rassan Grant, sophomore Leif Drake, and senior Jamey Waters won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:33.39. Brown, however, took both second and third, closing the gap.

The Bears then went on to win the 1000 freestyle as junior Mike Peters beat out Harvard sophomore Andrew McConnell to touch at 9:25.29. Brown also took third in the event.

Teammates and spectators alike roared as Brown won its second event back-to-back--sophomore Bear Jeff Miskis won the 200 free with a time of 1:42.13. He just nearly touched out Harvard freshman James Lawler, who finished second, touching at 1:42.81. After the 200 free, Brown was ahead 28-27, and fans were ecstatic.

Brown's hopes flickered and died, however, as Harvard proceeded to capture eleven of the next thirteen events, including freshman Ricky Roy's win on the one-meter diving board.

"He definitely upset the Brown divers," said junior Erik Frost of Roy's accomplishment. "They have some of the top divers in the league." As for this coming weekend, Frost commented, "We have a lot more depth, quality depth, than Princeton, so we're hoping to take some top spots in each event. Actually, I think that for both boards, it would be great and within our reach to sweep 1-2. We're looking to dominate."

Shevchik won the 100 backstroke in fifty-one seconds flat while freshman Kemi George took third. Grant and sophomore Michael Gentilucci took first and second place in the 100 breaststroke. Both swimmers came from behind in the last 25 yards of the race to beat out Brown junior Greg Bilton.

Gentilucci would also take third in the 400 IM later in the meet. Senior Will Oren, currently ranked second in the country in the 200 butterfly, won that event in 1:50.17 while sophomore Cory Walker took third.

"He's ready to blow up at HYP," sophomore Rick Dewey said of Walker, who participated in Olympic Trials last summer in the event. "He's really been kicking ass in practice."

Though Brown took the 50-yard freestyle (Drake was touched out by one-hundredth of a second at 21.39), Harvard's sprint freestylers were ready to go after the one-meter diving break. Senior Dan Barnes coined the phrase "outside smoke" as he took the event in 46.79 from all the way in lane eight. Freshman Brad Burns and senior Adam Shaw followed just hundredths of a second behind to round out the event with a one-two-three Harvard finish.

Grant became a double event-winner as he beat out Brown competitors to touch first in the 200 breast, while Im, who normally only swims backstroke events, won the 500 freestyle in 4:32.32. Walker finished less than six-tenths behind to take second place.

As if Harvard's dominance in those events weren't enough, the Crimson rounded out the meet by finishing first in the 100 butterfly (Drake, 51.40) and the 400 IM (Oren, 4:02.43). Harvard ended the day with a first-place finish in the 800 free relay, the team of Walker, Shevchik, sophomore Ryan Parmenter, and Lawler clocking 6:49.42. The team of freshman Kevin Budris, sophomore Jan Cieslikiewicz, Im, and McConnell took third.

After routing Brown, the team's focus has turned to bigger and better things--namely, the tri-meet this weekend.

"We're going in with the mentality that Princeton and Yale will both be rested, shaved and ready to put up some fast times," Shevchik said. "Since we won't be shaved, Mike [Im] and I are going to have to step up the intensity."

"We'd love to beat Princeton in their own pool, of course," teammate Dewey agreed, "but we're also concerned with finishing the season strong. HYP is not the main focus of our championship season.

"Basically we just want to get the ball rolling for strong swims at Easterns and NCAA's," Dewey said.

The undefeated Crimson faces the undefeated Tigers and the Yale Bulldogs this Saturday and Sunday at Princeton. The team has not lost an Ivy League meet since 1997.