SWIMMING

Like flowers that bloom in the spring, this year's crop of sports which are puffing out their chests and clamoring for admission to the ranks of the majors is swelling to boom proportions. For now that basketball has gone over the top and gained acceptance among the small group of major "H" activities, swimming has reared itself up and with the vigor of old Triton himself has clarioned out the same demand. And there is much to be said in favor of raising swimming to the high ranking group.

For swimming, not only at Harvard but all over the country, has swum into the ken of hundreds and thousands of people who twenty and even ten years ago would never have thought of going near the water. Ever since the War, and especially during the last decade, the public eye has been opening wider to the opportunities which the water has to offer, both in the way of vacation amusement and in the line of strenuous and healthy exercise all the year round. Great municipal beaches have developed near the centers of population on both seaboards to take care of the demand which could not be satisfied by private watering-places, and the support of the Olympic swimming team by the public gave striking evidence last summer to the fact that swimming has become an established American institution.

The picture of the growth of the sport at Harvard since the advent of the new Indoor Athletic Building has been markedly similar. Under the able coaching of Mr. Ulen the number of men competing for positions on the team has swollen to over a hundred, and it is significant to note that none of the great swimmers now on the team had proved themselves "great" before they came to Harvard. Student and graduate interest in the sport have also shown strength, culminating in the demonstration of approval that shook the rafters of the pool on the occasion of the recent triumph over Yale.

One must not, of course, be blind to certain objections. First, swimming is an individual sport, depending not on team play so much as on individual prowess. Secondly, the team at present is riding on the crest of a wave of success, and the trough of the wave must not be forgotten in the exhilaration of the moment. And on the basis of the ranking of swimming in other colleges, reluctance on the part of Harvard to change its status would not be at all unreasonable.

Nevertheless, in spite of these objections, it seems clear that swimming is here to stay, and even a measure of this year's enthusiasm on the part of the student body and outside rooters would be sufficient to assure its success as a major sport. Consequently it is to be hoped that the promotion will be given by the authorities in charge.