Aquamen Win Again; Claim Seventh Straight

Youth, rather than experience, has proven to be key ingredient in the Harvard men's swimming team's recipe for success.

The Crimson's most recent addition to its unblemished 7-0 record was a 73-40 thrashing of Boston University at Blodgett Pool Sunday afternoon.

More remarkable than the score was the fact that eight of the 13 events in the meet were won by Harvard freshmen.

"Our freshmen have performed very well," said Harvard Assistant Coach Ken Oberg.

"We have a very young squad," Oberg added, citing the fact that 26 of the 31 team members are either freshmen or sophomores.

Frosh John Pearson, Bill Bird, and John Ritch led the way for the aquamen.

Pearson's performance was the most impressive, as he defeated B.U.'s Dan Hughes in both the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle events, with times of 4:34:17 and 9:27:68 respectively. Hughes is the defending Eastern champion in both events.

Bird claimed the 200-yard butterfly in 1:54:34.

Ritch, meanwhile, continues to amaze coaches and opponents alike as he took the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events in :47:06 and 1:42:56 respectively. Ritch has not lost a single event in which he has competed this season.

Despite the lopsided score, the Crimson 'was viewing the meet as a tough, out-of-league test, which made the victory that much more satisfying.

"B.U. is probably better than 75 percent of the teams we swim against in the Ivy League." Oberg said.

With six meets remaining on the schedule in addition to the Eastern championships, the Crimson appears in good shape to recapture sole possession of the Eastern League championship, which it shared with Columbia, Cornell, and Princeton last year.

While Oberg is confident that the squad will more than hold its own at the Eastern Seaboards (to be held at Brown in early March), he is apprehensive about the meet with Ivy League rival Princeton coming up at Princeton on Feb. 9.

"That will be a big meet for us," said Oberg. "It will put our young team to a real test."