Swimmers Crush Cornell, 70-43, To Boost League Record to 2-3

Harvard's swimmers got a chance to build up their egos Saturday at the IAB, and they took advantage of the opportunity by beating Cornell, 70-43.

The Crimson had lost three straight Eastern League meets to sink into the lower reaches of, the second division, but Saturday's win boosted Harvard's record to 2-3, considerably better than the Big Red's 0-6;

Harvard must now face the League's top two teams-Penn and Yale-on consecutive weekends and hope for some small miracles.

Neither team was too impressive Saturday. "Cornell wasn't trying to beat us," said Harvard captain Mike Cahalan. "It was an uninspired effort by both teams." Cornell's two best divers did exhibition dives instead of entering officially, while the Crimson switched some of its swimmers into different events. Most of the times left much to be desired.

The best performances came in the sprints and the distance freestyles, all of which the Crimson won Cahalanrallied to take the 50-free in 22.3, while Paul Horvitz won the 100-free in 49,7. Dave Powlison (10:51.7) and Greg Huff (5:19.0) combined to earn points for Harvard in the distance events. In the 1000, Huff broke 11 minutes for the first time.

The most exciting event may have been the backstroke. John Burris had called Steve Krause the night before to challenge him to a race in the backstroke, which is Burris's event. Krause agreed and managed 'o beat him by just over a second in 2:08.9.