Harvard Mermen Dominate Opponents At New England AAU Swimming Meet

The New England AAU Senior Swimming Championships were held at North-eastern this weekend, and five Harvard swimmers took full advantage of the meet's proximity by winning all five events which they entered and breaking four records.

This is the first time in many years that a group of Crimson swimmers has competed in this event, which is generally attended by the less talented people in the area. But freshman Henry Watson is preparing for the National AAU Championships, so he decided to enter, and four others joined him.

Quigley Shut Down

Watson won both the 500-free and the 1650-free in record times, while Gregg Huff was third in both events. Watson's chief opponent was Dartmouth captain Steve Quigley, whose trip to Boston was not as worthwhile as he had expected it to be.

"Quigley came down here with ideas of sweeping, but Henry made him look pretty bad," Huff said. Watson's times were 4:58.5 and 17:09.

The AAU's were also a satisfying experience for Dave Powlison and John Burris, each of whom won an event and swam a leg on the winning 400-yard medley relay team. Burris, a 2:10.2 victor in the 200-back and Harvard's second back stroker, was particularly enthusiastic.

"I'm gunning for this meet next year," he said last night. "I'm swimming through the Easterns and everything."

Powlison won a close 100-free in a record 49.4, and swam a fast 48.3 last leg on the relay despite the fact that Harvard had a five-second lead when he went into the water. The relay time of 3:51.2 was a record. Pete Mikhalevsky swam the breaststroke on the relay, and Huff did the butterfly.

Huff, a butterfly competitor in high school, swims the distance freestyles for the varsity and was delighted to be in his old stroke again Saturday. "I was really psyched up," he said. "59.5 is no Johnny Munk, but it's good for me."

"We had a lot of fun, and next year we may have more people going." Huff continued. "All the parents there cheering on their kids reminded us of the good old days."