Renowned Krause Dabbles in Eccentricity

Last week Harvard paid a final tribute to the greatest all-around swimmer in the University's history when it presented two more awards to Steve Krause at the annual dinner.

One of the awards-the Wyman Trophy for most points scored-is in recognition of his physical contribution The other is given in acknowledgement of the unique personal contributions Krause has made to Harvard swimming.

Of course, most swimming experts would not be impressed to hear Krause has won the Wyman Trophy a second time at lowly Harvard. Only six years ago, at the tender age of 15. Krause emerged from the pool at Manmee, Ohio after swimming the mile faster than any other human being before him. On other occasions he set three American records.

Krause traveled to Europe with the U.S. team after setting the world record and was given a birthday party by Princess Grace. The next summer at the AAU Nationals he had to settle for second in the mile behind Mike Burton.

Highpoint

Krause's mile victory was the highpoint of a career that started when he was eight years old. At the time he was a three-year piano veteran, and his mother worried that he'd become too involved with music and neglect physical exercise.

She took him to a nearby swimming school which later became the famous Cascade Swim Club. By the time he reached age 13, Krause was doing three workouts a day during the summer and two a day during most of the rest of the year. He no longer had time for the piano.

His close association with Cascade coach John Tallman made Krause even more eager to go to the University of Washington, the school he'd always planned to attend and the school where Tallman coached.

A family friend-and Yale alumnus-thought young Krause was not giving proper consideration to the alternatives. Yale, after all, was good enough for Don Shollander. So Krause agreed to apply to Yale, and the cards and letters started coming into his Seattle home. He remembers receiving a five-page letter from one of the university's vice-presidents. On the day he was accepted by Harvard and Yale, Yale people phoned all day, forcing him to leave the house.

Finesse

Meanwhile, Krause had been contacted by Chris Bailey, a school committeeman in Seattle notorious for attracting area students to Harvard, his alma mater. Bailey convinced Krause to apply and told Harvard not to let anyone else pester Krause.

So he was confronted with a choice among Harvard. Yale, and Washington, Krause finally chose Harvard over Washington, even though he knew it would mean the end of his swimming career.

Other swimmers in that freshman class were amazed to find that Steve Krause was in Cambridge too. "It was like a magical name in swimming," teammate Mike Cahalan said recently Both swimmers were in Mass Hall, and Cahalan wandered down the corridor to see if the rumors were true. Krause was standing there in his shorts. "I knew from the shoulders and calves that it was the Steve Krause," Cahalan said.

Call Me Jim

Krause had become accustomed to this sort of attention and had started to depend on it. When he set the mile mark. Wide World of Sports' Jim MeKay was right there with his crew. "He asked me to swim out a bit and then swim back in, and he told me to call him 'Jim' frequently to give the interview more flavor." Krause recalls.

Krause, an accomplished prankster, made good use of the complete videotape of the interview sent to him by ABC. He managed to have it spliced onto a film for his history class entitled "Great Events of the '20's and '30's."

This celebrity role was reinforced by local newspaper, which sent out a reporting team to capture world record holder Steve Krause's first day back at Shoreline High School that September. They followed him all day, and the story appeared the next day with a picture of him and the principal supposedly planning his schedule. "It was terribly embarrassing." Krause said last week.

When he stopped attracting publicity for his swimming exploits at Harvard he seemed to develop a certain eccentricity, as perceived by acquaintances. Krause acknowledges that part of this new personal flair may have been conceived as a way to get the attention he had become so used to.

Part of the strategy, as Krause explains it, is to complain a lot. He complained at practices when everyone didn't have to do the same workout When roommates for the Penn trip this winter were assigned far in advance by alphabetical order. Krause refused to cooperate. He submitted a report to the Eliot kitchen asking that the serving women smile more and serve hotter food.

Yankee Peddler

One classic Krause stunt was his refusal to go to Yale in 1970 for the dual meet because the itinerary did not include the traditional dinner stop at the Yankee Peddler.

In addition, Krause has almost quit the team on three occasions. Each time, assistant coach Benn Merritt had to talk him into staying, though Merritt said recently that Krause really wanted to be dissuaded. Once Krause almost gave his quitting plans to the CRIMSON firstso that his decision would have an air of finality.

One of the most amazing Krause episodes unfolded two years ago at the Casablanca. Cahalan took him there and bought him a gin and tonic. When Krause finished it, he threw the glass over his shoulder and broke it, Cahalan recalls. He went through four more drinks-and four more glasses-before Cahalan escorted him out the door. Merritt, however, prefers to talk about the many times when Krause has been an inspiration to the people around him. At this year's Easterns, for instance, when Villanova's Tom Aretz was officially relegated from an obvious first to fifth because he failed to hit the automatic timing devise, Krause and teammate Johnny Burris stood up and led the crowd in an emphatic "No!" which helped Aretz eventually get the medal.

One of the clearest recollections of another Harvard swimmer, Dave Powlison, involves Krause. At West Point this year when Harvard barely lost the relay, Krause kept cheering and clapping afterwards while others had thrown down their towels. "He was almost inspirational," Powlison said. "He was cheering because it'd been a good race. It was this really beautiful thing."