'Cliffe Places 11th In First Nationals

The Radcliffe swimming team, undefeated in dual meets, second in the New England championships, and fourth in the Easterns, closed out the 1971 season last weekend by taking 11th in the Nationals.

It was Radcliffe's first trip to the Nationals. Competing against 73 other colleges, the five-woman squad ranked eighth at the end of the second day. But there were not enough Radcliffe swimmers to make up a third relay team, and the team fell to 11th on the final day, just behind Central Michigan and barely edging the University of New Mexico.

Radeliffe earned most of its points in the two relay races the team entered. Connie Servilla, Kathy Fletcher, RoAnn Costin and Jean Sinnott combined for a seventh place finish in the 400-yard relay. Julie Anderson replaced Sinnott in the 400-yard medley, and the team finished fifth.

Costin was the most successful individual swimmer, taking fifth in the 100-yard freestyle and seventh in the 200-yard freestyle. Servilla finished 12th in the 100-yard butterfly.

Arizona State won the meet with a squad of 22: most teams had at least ten swimmers. But Radcliffe made up for its lack of depth with top performances from each of its swimmers.

"The team worked out every day for the last month and a half," coach Alice McCabe said Wednesday, "and we've been in the water since November. We don't have a Physical Education program, of course, and with a student body of only 1200 we were probably the smallest college out there."

Costin, Servilla and Sinnott, all freshmen, and Anderson, a senior, were AAU swimmers in high school. Fletcher a senior and co-captain, had never swum competitively before coming to Radcliffe. Costin was New England high school champion in the 50-yard freestyle last year.

McCabe was confident that the team's strong showing in the Nationals would provide additional incentive to Radcliffe swimmers in the future.

But even the excitement of the Nationals couldn't keep the Radcliffe swimmers away from more traditional pursuits. Julie Anderson summed up the trip. "Not only did we take 11th place, but we got two papers written and six books read between events."