Mermen, Matmen Elect Next Year's Captains

In election conducted yesterday afternoon, sophomore Mike Cahalan was chosen as captain of next year's varsity swimming team, and Paul Catinella was selected to lead the wrestling team.

Cahalan was one of coach Bill Brooks' many superb sophomores. The captain-elect competes in the freestyle at 50 and 100 yards, in the freestyle relay, and occasionally in the breaststroke. The 50-free is Cahalan's best event, and he holds the Harvard record of 21.8. His 100-free time of 48.4 is only 0.4 seconds off the University record set by Bill Shrout four years ago.

Cahalan, who lives in Eliot House, has performed well all season but has been particularly effective in recent meets, earning double victories against both Dartmouth and Yale. Against EISL opposition, Cahalan has captured eight first places and a total of 58 3/4 points.

Third Year

Next year will mark the third time that Cahalan has captained his swimming team. He was All-American and captain in his senior year at Mercersburg Academy, and was also the leader of last winter's Yardlings. Cahalan succeeds Martie Chalfie as varsity captain.

Catinella, a junior, was elected, 16-0, to head the wrestlers next season. His record of 8-2-1 in the 137-pound class was one of the finest on the team. Both of Catinella's losses were by one point of riding time.

Coach John Lee was delighted with the selection. "Paul never has to be pushed. If you have nine guys like Paul, even without a great deal of ability, you're better off than with a lot of talent but no desire to work," Lee said. "He'll make an excellent captain; he's really gung-ho," he added.

Catinella, like Cahalan, captained both his high school and college freshman teams. At Roxbury Latin, he was the Class B Prep champion in his last two seasons.

'Decent Chances'

The 137-pounder has wrestled increasingly better of late. Lee feels that his best performance was a 12-3 victory over Princeton's Bob Todd a week ago. In the Eastern Championships at Princeton this weekend, Catinella will be one of the best entrants at 137. "Paul has pretty decent chances," Lee noted.

Both the swimming and wrestling teams finished in the first division this season, and the grapplers narrowly missed winning the Ivy title. With a solid corps of sophomores, both squads have good reason for optimism, though an Ivy championship appears out of the question for the mermen due to Yale's presence in the league.

Cahalan and Catinella are the first winter sports captains to be elected this year. The others are likely to chosen soon.