HARVARD PLAYS HOST TO TOPFLIGHT COLLEGE MERMEN IN NATIONAL MEET TODAY, TOMORROW

The mecca of the swimming world will be Harvard's Indoor Athletic Pool today and tomorrow, as the greatest collection of tank stars ever assembled compete in the nineteenth annual National Intercollegiate Swimming Championships.

Nearly 150 of the nation's top mermen, representing 29 different colleges, have entered the meet. Such is the caliber of every swimmer who has been entered that it is virtually impossible to foresee, with any degree of accuracy, exactly who will be the individual star or what records will be broken during the two-day competition.

It is safe to predict, however, that Yale's record-smashing team, one of the greatest aggregations in the history of intercollegiate swimming history, will make the strongest old for the 1942 national team title.

Coach Hal Ulen announced last night that the following men will be the Crimson entries in the Nationals: Captain Tom Shrewsbury in the 50 and 100 yard free styles; Captain-elect Bill Drucker in the 150 yard backstroke and the 300 yard Medley Relay; Bus Curwen in the Medley Relay; John Eusden in the Medley relay and the 50 and 100 yard free styles; Brad Patterson and Shaw McCutcheon in the high board fancy dive; and Dave Barnes and George Christman in the 1500 meter free style.

Never in the past 18 years have the Elis walked off with the mythical crown, but, if the times which the Blue mermen have written into the record books so far this season are any indication, this year might well be considered "der Tag."

Coach Kiphuth has entered 21 men, more than twice the entries of any other team, in an effort to be as certain as possible that his squad will capture the title which Matt Mann's Michigan tankmen have held for the past eight campaigns.

Undefeated in dual competition in the Eastern Intercollegiate League for the fourth consecutive year, the Bulldogs went ahead to win ten out of 11 events in the Eastern Intercollegiates held last weekend at New Haven. The senior-studded Eli squad also defeated Michigan, Big Ten champion and possibly the second best team in the country, by the lop-sided score of 59 to 16 last month at Ann Arbor.

Although certain to be pushed by some of the nation's fast swimmers, Yale is a favorite for first in every event, with the possible exceptions of the 50 and 100 yard free styles and the back-stroke. Even if the Elis fail to take their quota of first places, however, their squad has the depth to pile up enough seconds and thirds in order to take the team title.

Howie Johnson, the Eli captain, who is considered the best all-around swimmer in the country, will be trying for Johnny "Tarzan" Weismuller's world record of 51 seconds in the 100 yard free style and Jack Medica's N.C.A.A. time of 2 minutes, 9.6 seconds in the 220. That he will succeed in his attempt is a good bet for he has already been as low as 51 flat for the 100 in a relay this season and has hit 2 minutes 9.7 seconds in the 220.

Chouteau Expected to Win

Rene Chouteau, a man from Missouri who learned to swim off the banks of the Mississippi, will probably be another Yale tankman to score a new record. At the Easterns last Saturday he turned in an new intercollegiate time of 3 minutes 31 seconds for the individual medley relay, won the 440 yard free style and then went on to beat his teammate Johnson in the 220.

Danny Dannenbaum is another Bulldog swimmer who will be carrying Coach Kiphuth's fondest hopes on his shoulders when he enters the 150-yard backstroke. Although a "clutch" swimmer if there ever was one, he will probably be hard pressed by Ohio State's Mark Follansbee, Princeton's Tom Shand and Harvard's Bill Drucker.

Undoubtedly one of the most exciting races of the meet will be the 220-yard breastroke in which Skinner of Michigan, Meyer of Yale and Jodka of Massachusetts State will be fighting it out for top honors.

Both the low and high board fancy dives should fall to Yale's Jim Cook, twice winner of the Easterns and second in the Nationals last year. Cook's strongest opponents will be Harvard's Shaw McCutcheon, Ohio State's Frank Dempsey, and Occidental's Summy Lee, a native of China who took a close third to Cook last season