Swimmers, With Seven Veterans, Open Against Springfield Today

The varsity swimming team will rely on seven returning lettermen and a strong group of sophomores in its attempt to improve on last year's 6-4 record.

The most outstanding of the lettermen is Bill Murphy, who won the diving competition in the Eastern Seaboards Championships two years ago as a sophomore. Diving coach Harold Miroff said, "Bill is off to a really fine start this fall, and is getting way out on his dives."

Other lettermen expected to be strong contributers this season are Captain Marty Chalfie, John Bragg, and Buzz Cummins, all seniors. Chalfie performs in the butterfly, while Bragg is a freestyler and Cummins is a breaststroker. Bob Hughes, a senior, and juniors Terry Flannigan and Eric Hanson also lettered on last year's team.

Coach Bill Brooks expects six sophomores to be major factors in the team's success. Steve Krausse, a regular winner last year, will swim in the distance freestyle events, and Johnny Munk will perform as a butterfly man. Toby Gerhart and Dave Powlison are both solid freestylers, and Mike Cahalan in the sprints and Steve Baumgart in the breaststroke also show great promise.

Coach Brooks said yesterday, "This team compares favorably with last year's. Our strongest events will probably be the freestyle relay and the diving, in which we have not only Murphy but also Dick Eisenberg. We're a little concerned about the backstroke event at the moment."

Formidable Foes

As usual, there will be a number of difficult meets on the schedule. Eastern powerhouse Yale "is at full strength," said Brooks, "and Army, Navy, Princeton, and Dartmouth seem to be as strong this year as they were last year. Penn and Cornell have surprisingly good squads."

Harvard opens today against Springfield, which does not appear to be overly formidable. The Crimson swamped the Chiefs 61-34 and 73-40 in the last two meets, and Springfield is not appreciably improved this season after losing backstroke champion Steve Olson and Dave Hart, winner of the New England freestyle.

Springfield, defending champion in the New England League, does have some talent, however. The Chiefs' major asset is depth, but there are a few outstanding swimmers. Co-captain Dennis Sbrega is the New England 200-yard butterfly champion, and junior Tim Meyer is on his way to becoming the fastest freestyler even at Springfield. The meet will be in the new 50-meter Linkletter Naratorium at Springfield.

Freshman coach Benn Merritt, whose team will also face Springfield today, said, "We have no depth whatsoever, and we will have to put boys in events they have never competed in before." Nonetheless, the freshmen have some strong points. Merritt added that "the diving is the most solid it's been in ten years." He cited in particular Dave Silver and Tom Wallace, both high school All-American divers.

Three other All-Americans are Al Ackerman, Paul Horvitz, and Phil Johnson. "Ackerman," said Merritt, "is entirely capable of performing in any stroke at any distance. Dan Kobick is also extremely versatile." Horvitz and Johnson are both sprinters.

Dave Law is the number one breaststroker at this time, but is being pressed by Pete Mikhalevsky, John Collins, and Bob Dietz. Andy Huff is the best man in the butterfly, while Joe McGuire was favorably mentioned by Merritt for his ability in the distance events.