Harvard Swimming Team Takes on Columbia Today

Harvard's varsity swimming team, stepping down a class today, hosts underdog Columbia at 3 p.m. in the IAB.

Crimson coach Bill Brooks has not yet decided the final entry list for the individual events, but he will probably limit use of his strong swimmers.

Harvard's Bob Corris should have little trouble winning either the 200-yard individual medley or the 200-yard breaststroke. In the Crimson's 55-40 loss to powerful Princeton last Saturday, he set personal record of 2:04.6 in the individual medley and broke the IAB and university marks in the breaststroke with a 2:16.7 clocking.

Worth a Damn

Columbia's outstanding swimmer is Bill Damn, a 200- and 500-yard freestyler. In the 200-yd event, however, his best time of 1:54 is well above Crimson sophomore Shrout's average time of 1:49.

One of Columbia's stronger points is the diving event. Gene Grossman and Paul Van Eikeren alternate in the top spot for the Lions. Because Columbia does not use a high board, the competition today will restricted to the low board, which may give the Crimson divers more difficulty.

Columbia's leading sprint man is Niles Schoening, who has been clocked at :23.1 in the 50-yard freestyle and at :52.7 in the 100-yard freestyle. Harvard's Shrout and Phil Chase should both better this one with little trouble.

Columbia, which suffered a 54-41 whipping from Colgate last Saturday, stands well below the Crimson in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Harvard is currently in fifth place -- behind Army, Princeton, Yale and Navy.