M. Swimming and Diving Wins Sixth Straight EISL Title

As expected, Harvard men's swimming and diving team won its sixth straight Eastern Intercollegiate Swim League championship last weekend.

The men also set 5 school records, 10 pool records and 6 meet records. They automatically qualified 3 swimmers and one relay for NCAAs at the end of this month. They qualified 13 other swims for NCAA consideration and won 13 out of 21 events, including 4 out of 5 relays.

"The meet was incredible," said freshman John Cole. "The team gave 110% from the first race Thursday morning to the last relay Saturday night."

Going into the competition, the Crimson knew it would take a team effort to defend its EISL title. Little did the team know it had nothing to fear--the performances every class turned in over the course of the three-day meet could be termed nothing short of spectacular.

Harvard (8-1, 6-1 Ivy) left the rest of the Ivy League in its wake at the championship. Harvard had lost to Princeton in dual-meet competition, but at Easterns, the Crimson won the meet with a total score of 1,560, 259.5 points ahead of Princeton.

"I think everyone's main goal coming into this weekend was to defend our EISL crown," said sophomore Dan Shevchik. "We overcame so many obstacles this season [injury-wise]...winning despite all of these obstacles showed the character of our team."

The team competed without the talents of diver Enrique Roy, who had hit his head on the diving board during warm-ups Thursday night. Though the freshman suffered a skull fracture in the accident, he was immediately discharged after treatment at a local hospital and in the process of recovering.

Roy's teammates displayed true character in his absence--Shevchik and distance swimmer Cole took home three individual gold medals apiece. Freshman breaststroker Rassan Grant also clocked two first-place individual finishes and helped both the 200- and 400-yard medley relays post two new school records.

Shevchik's performances in the 200 individual medley, 400 individual medley and 200 backstroke rank him not only first in the Eastern league but also among the best in the country. His 400 IM time of 3:46.69 is currently the fastest NCAA time by over a second. Tyler Painter of the University of Arizona clocked :48.02 back in December.

"I approached this meet a little differently than normal," Shevchik said of his swims. "Usually at a championship meet I focus on the times I'm looking to swim, but this weekend I was more focused on winning races, and I think it paid off with some good times."

Cole, meanwhile, won all distance freestyle events. Though he was unrested for the meet, the freshman easily captured the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyles.

"What John Cole did this weekend and has done throughout the year is nothing short of amazing," Shevchik said.

In addition to breaking meet and pool records in each of his individual events, Cole also automatically qualified for NCAAs in the mile--by an almost unheard-of eight seconds. Cole also anchored the 800 free relay, outhustling Yale's George Gleason (who took second in the 200 free) to win the event for the Crimson.

"It was awesome to win the distance events and to be a part of the 800 free relay," Cole wrote in an e-mail. "I was happy with my 500 swim...As far as my 1000 and mile go...I think that I am capable of going faster, and I hope that when I finally rest for NCAAs, I will drop more time."

While Shevchik and Cole covered the IM and distance events for Harvard, the breaststroke events belonged to Grant. The freshman's personal best times were good enough to break both the 100 and 200 breaststroke school records. His 100 breast time of 54.42 also automatically qualified him for NCAAs and was just one hundredth short of a meet record.

Four of Harvard's relays proved best in the league, as well. The medley relay team of Senior Michael Im, Grant, junior Kyle Egan and sophomore Leif Drake set school records in the 200 and 400-yard versions of the event. Im also won the 100 backstroke for the Crimson with a time of 48.24, while Drake took second in the 100 freestyle. Egan took silver in the 100 fly and bronze in the 200.

The 200 free relay of senior Jamey Waters, co-captain Matt Fritsch, sophomore Leif Drake, and freshman Brad Burns clocked 1:20.65 to win the 200 free relay while sophomores Cory Walker, Ryan Parmenter, senior Dan Barnes and Cole captured the 800 free relay.

Senior Will Oren also turned in an impressive performance for the Crimson. The senior, who currently holds the team record in the 200 butterfly, placed second to Princeton sophomore Carl Hessler in the event with a time of 1:46.65. Oren tag-teamed with Cole to take silver in the 500, clocking 4:23.47.

"We proved that we are the best team in the league," Cole said of the meet. "We showed the rest of the nation what we are capable of achieving."