Tankmen Slaughter Army, 84-29, For Upset Win in League Opener

Overpowering individual and team performances by Harvard's swimmers Saturday in the IAB gave them their first win 84-29, over Army since 1962. The Crimson, which considered itself the underdog, won all 13 events for its second victory without a loss.

Harvard got a big boost in the first event, the medley relay. Dan Kobick earned a two-yard lead on the backstroke, and on the third leg, Johnny Munk opened it up to five yards. Sophomore Al Ackerman wrapped it up with a 49.1 freestyle leg, and his team led, 7-0.

After Dave Powlison coasted to the first of his two wins by beating two of the top Cadets, Rick Rentz and Fred Lough, in the 1000-free. Toby Gerhart came through with perhaps the most crucial victory of the afternoon.

Army's Jack Frink, who edged Gerhart by 0.2 seconds in the 200-free last year, met Gerhart in the same event Saturday and went out fast. He opened a one-yard lead. stretched it to two yards, and seemed on his way to victory. But with 75 yards left, Gerhart began to come back quickly, and caught Frink with 34 yards left.

Gerhart continued to pour it on and easily outswam Frink to gain revenge in 1:49.6. "If it's humanly possible to catch up, Toby can do it," captain Mike Cahalan said after the meet. "When you beat a guy like Frink, it kills them." he added.

In the Hole

So Harvard took a 17-8 lead into the 50-free, Cahalan's specialty. Cabalan won without much trouble in 22.0. and sophomore Paul Horvitz picked up a third. That put Army in an even deeper hole. "We thought we had a good shot in the 50 and 200," coach Jack Ryan said later, "but they really hurt us."

Steve Krause was the only Crimson entrant in the individual medley. John Ferguson took a slight lead. which he held through the first half of the race. But then Krause caught him with his breaststroke and moved away in the freestyle leg for a 2:03.6 win.

The one-meter diving ended all Army hopes Dave Silver won a convincing first, and Dick Eisenberg, with a good last dive, nipped Dan Hennebry to give Harvard eight more points and a 36-16 advantage. "After the one meter. I knew we'd have to struggle to win," Ryan admitted.

Any struggle was in vain, however, as Munk romped to a butterfly triumph, and Cahalan and Gerhart followed with a sweep in the 100-free. Gerhart had again allowed a Cadet out in front of him but rallied for his second behind Cahalan, whose time was a quick 49.0.

Kobick clinched the victory with a 2:05.5 win in the backstroke, and John Burris was third, After Powlison won again. Steve Baumgart with a 2:23.7, and Dave Law earned one of Harvard's rare sweeps in the breaststroke. Silver and Tom Wallace added a sweep of the three-meter diving as things began to get boring. Silver scored 325.30 points for his win.

The Cadets came to their feet during the final event as the freestyle relay team finished on top of the Crimson, but then manager Glenn Koocher announced that the last Army man had jumped, disqualifying the Cadets. In a show of brashness. Harvard fans cheered.

A Good Day

"We had a good day," Harvard coach Bill Brooks said. Most of the times were exceptional for so early in the season. Army, however, was not as powerful as expected. Through graduation they lost two All-Americans. Barry Kerr and Dick Heesch and diver Don Green. Another big blow was the loss of Steve Kennedy, who is no longer at the Academ. "We expected to lose today," Ryan explained.

But clarion over this important win in the league opener must be tempered by caution. Next weekend, Harvard faces Navy at Annapolis. "Navy is far superior to Army." Brooks said.