Mermen Win, to Face Yale for Title

For the first time since 1962 the Harvard-Yale swimming meet next weekend in Cambridge will decide the Eastern League championship, as the once-beaten Crimson beat Penn, 58-54, in New Haven to set the stage for the main event.

Harvard continued to swim impressively against the Quakers, and the four-point margin of victory made the meet appear closer than the actual results indicate. The Crimson clinched the victory before the last relay, and a close Penn win in the final event narrowed the Quaker deficit but had little bearing on the outcome.

Yale's win over the Tigers, which beat Harvard, 58-55, earlier this season in Princeton for the Crimson's only setback, further illustrated the incredible balance and quality of the league's top four teams. The home pool advantage has proved to be the difference in every meet featuring Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale or Harvard thus far this season. The fact that the Harvard - Yale showdown will be in Cambridge should give the Crimson a big psychological advantage.

Harvard, without the benefit of the home pool or a psychological incentive for the Penn meet, beyond its determination to force a league title match with Yale, turned in some outstanding performances nevertheless, setting three new Harvard records on the afternoon.

Early Domination

The Crimson dominated the early stages of the contest, wining the medley relay, the 1000-yd. free, the 200-yd. free, and the 50-yd free. Captain Fred Mitchell equalled his season best in the 200 with a 1:48.0 clocking while sophomore Jim Davis took third in a career best 1:48:0. Time Neville remained undefeated in the 50, winning easily in 22.1.

Dave Brumwell was touched out by Penn's Bob Atkinson in the 200-yd. individual medley, but the sophomore lowered his University record to 1:58.7 in the process. Hess Yntema continued to look unbeatable in the 200-yd, butterfly as the freshman shaved another half a second off his Harvard standard with an excellent 1:54.5 swim. Another frosh, John Craig took second with a career best 1:58.4 in one of the many fine performances turned in by number-two or three Harvard swimmers.

In the biggest surprise of the afternoon, freshman Tom Wolfe, who has been coming on strong all season, swam a new Harvard record time of 1:58.6 in the 200-yd. backstroke, beating two strong Penn back-strokers in the process. Mitchell and Rich Baughman, the latter starting to make his big end-or-the-season push, took one-two in a leisurely 500-yd. free, Jim Davis qualified for the Easterns in a second event with a 4:55.8 clocking.

Questionable Disqualification

A questionable disqualification of Phil Jonkheer in the 200-yd. breaststroke gave Penn another win, and a Quaker sweep in the three-meter dive and the inconsequential first 400-yd. free relay completed the scoring.

Yale's see-saw battle with the Tigers went down to the final relay, which the Elis took in a fast 3:10.8. It took both relays in the meet, and split the Princeton divers which earlier had swept Harvard. The Crimson is undefeated this season in the 400-yd. free relay, and all indications are that the outcome of next Saturday's contest could very well depend on which team can take the final race and the seven unanswered points that go to the winner.