Aquawomen Smell Success

The Harvard women's swimming team has set out to prove that the third time's the charm, and if Saturday's meet against Maine is any indication, third-year Coach Vicki Hays may guide the aquawomen to an Ivy title.

In Hays' rookie season her charges nipped Maine by just one point, but much has happened since. The Crimson torpedoed the visiting Black Bears, 105-44, Saturday.

"It's obvious that in the last two years the program has turned around," Hays said. "It's got some committed athletes that are making tremendous progress. They work hard and work well together."

As the 1982-83 campaign gets into full swing, the Crimson can reflect on some initial successes and look forward to accomplishing many more.

Having posted a 2-1 record so far, Hays believes that Harvard has illustrated tremendous depth and versatility. She points out that in the three meets already held this season, 23 team members have qualified for the Eastern Women's Swimming League Championship Last year only 19 women qualified for the Easterns the entire season.

"We can attribute our success to the fact that we have the flexibility of moving people around and entering them in different events," Hays said. The team isn't just one swimmer deep in each event; if a first-string aquawoman is having difficulties, other swimmers are talented enough to step in.

"In this respect, we don't have a team of stars," Hays said.

While Hays portrays her squad as one without a large gap between the elite and the rest, there are several women who Hays hopes will lead Harvard past Princeton and Brown to the Ivy League title.

At the top of the list stands superstar Debbie Zimic. A junior, Zimic usually competes in individual medleys, and Hays calls her "the team's all-around swimmer. She swims every stroke well." Last year Zimic was the first Harvard woman ever to score at the Division I championships, which means that in the 400 individual medley, she is among the finest 15 collegiate swimmers in the country.

And while Zimic takes care of the medleys. Co-Captains Joanne Floyd and Shelby Calvert should clean up in middle distance freestyle competition. Floyd, a junior, and Calvert, a senior, usually finish one-two in dual meets, and both placed in the top eight positions in Easterns last year. Calvert qualified for Nationals.

Hays expects a lot from sophomore Karen DiBlasio, a long-distance freestyler, who had a disappointing season last year. Before coming to Harvard. DiBlasio was a disappointing member of the international teams representing the United States, but she slumped on arrival in Cambridge. Already, Hays says that DiBlasio is making a great comeback, maintaining that in her first meet of the current campaign DiBlasio swam faster than she did in last year's Easterns, the final meet of the 1981-82 season.

Awards Forthcoming

Harvard again netted a bumper crop of freshmen this year with Annie Wilson and Allison Greis, the early-season standouts. Wilson has already qualified for four events at the Easterns, and Greis has earned a championship berth in seven events.

"It doesn't matter what we place them in," Hays said. "They usually win it or at least place high."

Harvard has shown some weaknesses in its performance in the sprint events. But even these seem to have been at least partially remedied. For instance, in last Wednesday's meet against B.C., Harvard swept both sprint heats, as junior Tracy Black and sophomore Diane Smith each notched victories.

Diving is perhaps Harvard's strongest area. After the Crimson lost high-scoring Pam Stone to graduation, two capable freshmen--Shannon Byrd and Sharon Daly--have helped to fill the void Highly acclaimed sophomore Jennifer Goldberg, senior Adriana Holy, junior Cathy Josman and sophomore Missy Karas all contribute to give Harvard great stability. After three meets and six diving events, five different women have placed first for the Crimson.

Hays claims that it's difficult to predict the outcome of the current campaign because Harvard will face five fine squads it has never before competed against. In addition, the aquawomen spend nearly all of February--the season's final month on the road.

"I think [the Ivy crown is] a little out of our reach for this year," Hays said. "Princeton and Brown are very strong, but the top four teams in the Ivies had always had very close contests."