Swimming Fan Shatters Crimson Hopes Of Setting New National A.A.U. Record

An impressive display of Crimson swimming might, featuring an assault on the National A. A. U. 800 yard relay record, went for naught yesterday afternoon when an excited Charles N. Pollak H. 40 tumbled into the Indoor Athletic Building pool on top of Captain Eric Cutler, swimming the last of four 200 yard legs.

The Harvard quarter of Lounie Stowell. Frannie Powers Art Bosworth, and Cutler were cracking the existing A. A. P. mark with yards to spare when Pollak, calling out the laps for the swimmers from the edge of the pool, lost his balance and got hopelessly tangled with Cutler on the sixth lap of the latter's anchor leg. Cutler never did get to the fatal sixth turn and assisted in fishing the crestfallen Pollak out of the water.

Yale Record

Previous to the accident. Stowell had been clocked in about 2:05. Powers in 2:04, and Bosworth in 2:02.2: all that was required of Cutler fastest of the lot was an average performance to break the record with seconds to burn. The record, set by Yale (Hoyt, Brueckel. Cook, and Macionis) in 1936, is 8:24.

Pollak, swimming editor of the CRIMSON for three winters, has been an ardent tank fan for years, and Harvard's Coach Ulen counts him among his close friends. Pollak wanted to hare some small part in the setting of the new record so Ulen decided to let him call out the laps at the turus.

Ulen Disappointed

Afterwards, Ulen expressed himself as being rather disappointed at the sudden and unexpected turn of events but felt certain that the same foursome could carry off the record in another attempt later in the year. The boys were a bit peeved at first but tried to pass the master off as a good joke. Cutler commented: "Well that certainly is the first time anything like that ever happened to me in a race.

Pollak was at a complete loss for words. After being disengaged from Cutler and hoisted up to the surface, he fled from the pool and from the chagrined looks of the disappointed swimmers.