Aquamen Bamboozle Ivy Rival Bulldogs

Every team needs a good warm-up before a championship meet.

And that's precisely what the Harvard men's swimming team got on Saturday afternoon in New Haven, Conn., when the squad defeated Yale, 66-47, in front of a disapointing crowd of 150 at Kiphuth Pool.

Despite the supposed rivalry between the two squads, it was clear that both the Crimson (9-2 overall, 7-2 ECAC) and the Elis (4-6, 3-4) were looking ahead to this week's Eastern Championships, to be held Thursday through Saturday at Blodgett Pool.

The outcome of the meet was never in question after the first two events, after which Harvard led, 15-1. Like the Crimson's meeting with Penn at Blodgett one week ago, the most interesting part of the contest was seeing which swimmers would qualify for the Easterns.

Co-Captain Tim Ford emphasized the team's season-long goal of winning its eighth consecutive Eastern Seaboard title. "We'll have to work on a few things before Thursday," the Australian native said, "but the mood of the team is good. I feel that everybody is ready to do their job this weekend."

Far and away, the big winner in Saturday's qualifying game was freshman Marty Caverly, who earned himself a spot in three events this weekend with his swims in the 200-yd. freestyle, 200 butterfly and 500 freestyle. Caverly won the 500 free and finished second behind Co-Captain Peter Egan in the butterfly in his qualifying efforts.

Also receiving a berth in the 500 freestyle heats at Easterns was Bill Cleveland, who after coming up short in his quest last week, finished the race in second place, just below the time standard of 4:43.99.

Coming off an illness which forced him out of competition against Penn, diver Patrick Healy earned his first collegiate victory with a triumph on the one-meter board. Healy also snagged second place in the three-meter competition.

Other winners for the Crimson included Dave Berkoff in the 200 individual medley, John Ritch in the 200 freestyle and Ford in the 1000.

Even though most of the swims on Saturday were a little bit sluggish, Harvard should have no trouble preparing for the Easterns--especially after the left-right combo dealt to them three weeks ago, when Princeton and Cornell edged out decisions over the Crimson on consecutive weekends.

"The losses to Princeton and Cornell, if anything, helped our people become more focused and determined about winning at Easterns," Ford said. "We now know that if we swim well, we're fine, but if we slack off, there are teams ready to beat us."