Aquamen Begin NCAAs

The Harvard men's swimming team shook off early jitters to finish in 15th place after the first of three days of competition at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Indianapolis, Ind.

The University of Florida currently holds the first-day lead, with Stanford and California in the second and third spots.

In the squad's only event yesterday, the 400-yard medley relay, the Crimson team of David Berkoff, Scott Hoy, Peter Egan and Keith Kaplan finished in 11th place with a time of 3:18.30, slightly off the school record set earlier this year of 3:17.80.

Head Coach Joe Bernal said that the young relay team--three of four are freshmen or sophomores--was a victim of nerves during the morning trials. "The team had some jitters yesterday morning and as a result struggled through the trials," Bernal said. "Their performance last night, however, showed that we're back on the right track."

The competition, which brings together the best collegiate swimmers in the nation, resumes this morning with Harvard headed by Berkoff's entry in the 100 backstroke. The sophomore's current time of 48.79 is only one-half second off the American record in the event.