Mermen to Meet Big Red At Ithaca This Afternoon

The Harvard swimmers will face an extremely tough Cornell squad in Ithaca today at 3:30 p.m. The Big Red has come close to beating Yale than any other team, except Army who actually turned the trick.

The Crimson's weaknesses in both the backstroke and diving will not help the cause. The backstroke will not only work against Harvard in the individual contests, but will also hurt in the medley relay. Our weakness in the relay is magnified by Cornell strength. Don Eames, Bob Kennedy, Ed Gray, and Ed Daly, their entry in the relay set a new record of 3:43-3, in an earlier meet against Princeton. The same meet Eames set an individual backstroke record swimming the 200 yards in 3:05-5.

We will also lose the diving events. The Cornell divers are collectively the best in the East with Jay Moses, Tom Casel, and Bill Paxton all holding high individual rankings.

The picture is not all black. Harvard will win in the 200-yard butterfly with Neville Hayes, who holds the University record at 1:57.4. We will win, and might sweep, the 500-yard freestyle event with Pete Adams and Bob Buster. A definite win, and possible sweep, is in store in the 200-yard breaststroke with undefeated Bob Corris and Captain Bruce Fowler, as the Crimson's entries. Harvard's fine freestyle swimmers should give us the edge we need to win we need to win the meet. Bill Shrout, Adams, and Steve Coy could turn on the stuff to push the team over the top.

The Cornell swimmers are not as long as their Dartmouth rivals who were defeated by Harvard 53-42 in the middle of January. They are strong enough, however, to leave the outcome of today's meet very much in doubt. The final decision lies with the Crimson's ability to salvage seconds and thirds in weaker events, since Harvard's mainstays will keep the team in striking distance of victory.