Swimmers Face Yale in League Title Showdown

Occasionally, say once or twice in thirty-five years, the world momentarily tilts off its axis and Harvard comes up with a victory over Yale in swimming. This afternoon at 3:30 p.m. (EST) the IAB could be the site of another such earth-shaking event as the once-beaten Crimson challenge the unbeaten Elis for a share of the Eastern League title.

A Harvard win over Yale today would represent the first time in the Indoor Athletic Building's 43-year history that the Crimson has topped the Elis in the IAB, the end of an 11-year winless drought, and only the third win for Harvard over Yale in the last half century.

Despite the almost unbelievable achievement a Crimson win would represent, the Elis are, as always, a slight favorite in the contest. Besides the fact that Yale has been the single-most dominant swimming school in the country over the last seventy years, (one is tempted to think that it invented the sport) it is the top team in the Eastern League this year as well.

The last couple of seasons the Elis's unchallenged domination of Eastern swimming has come under increasing attack from the other Ivy League schools, notably Penn, Princeton, Dartmouth, and, since the arrival of Don Gambril as head coach, Harvard.

Yet Yale head coach Phil Moriarity has kept his team on top. Last year the Elis surfaced after a couple of dual meet losses to take the Easterns. This year Yale has staged a full-fledged comeback, beating pre-season favorite Princeton and upstart Dartmouth. It is dangerously close to yet another undefeated, league-championship season.

Only Harvard stands in the Elis's way. The Crimson, now in the second year of Gambril's heralded rebuilding program, has become a genuine championship contender. A disappointing away loss to Princeton has slightly marred an otherwise outstanding season, but it is Yale that Gambril, his team, and its fans want to beat more desperately than any other.

A win over Yale is vitally important to the long-run success of Gambril's program. A loss would stall Harvard's renaissance, and have a critical effect on the coach's ability to attract top talent to Cambridge. Another Yale undefeated season could jeopardize the balance that has emerged over the last three seasons between the top five squads in the league and put the Elis once more in the untouchable category.

So Much Riding

With so much riding on the outcome, the contest is almost impossible to predict. Every event will be crucial to each team's chances, but several shape up as particularly critical. As always the relays, which start and end the program, will be a key. Yale has slightly better times in both, so coaching strategy in manning the relays will be an important factor.

The two dives, traditionally an opportunity for the fans to chat with their neighbors, stretch a bit, or buy a Coke, could be the two most important events of the afternoon. Harvard's chances of winning may be riding on the performances of freshman diver Dave English, who must take at least one first in the two dives for a Crimson upset.

Elsewhere down the list, Harvard and Yale swimmers have recorded virtually identical times in most races. The Crimson, however, must hope to take a majority of firsts because the Elis have, as always, superior depth.

Harvard has better times in only three events, the 1000-yd. free, the 50-yd. free, and the 200-yd. fly. The 200-yd. free will be an early test for the Crimson and captain Fred Mitchell, who will probably face Yale's top individual star, Chuck Holum. Dave Brumwell or Hess Yntema must face Holum in a tough 200-yd. individual medley.

The 100-yd. free is wide open. Any one of several Yale of Harvard swimmers could win, while the 200-yd. backstroke confrontation between the Crimson's Tom Wolfe and Yale's Eric Fish will be another key race.

Yale's Holum and Orland have better times in the 500-yd. free, but Harvard's Rich Baughman may be ready for a big effort. The 200-yd. breast stroke pitting Dave Brumwell, unbeaten in the event, against two excellent Yale performers could go either way, as could the vitally important final freestyle relay.

"We are in a situation where our first place guys have to win," Gambril said Thursday, "and we are ready to swim our best." "It ought to be one helluva contest," Yale coach Moriarity said yesterday. "Anything could happen. The winner will probably be the one who can hang in there the longest."