Swimmers Down Weak Bruins, 78-25

Only eleven Brown swimmers showed up at the IAB for the meet against Harvard last night, but an entire brigade wouldn't have helped as the overpowering Crimson squad coasted to an easy 78-25 victory.

First- and second- place finishes were coming so fast and furious that Crimson coach Ray Essick had his hands full trying to keep from running up the score.

Even when Essick placed long distance specialist Paco Canales in the 200 backstroke, it proved disastrous for the sinking Bruins. Paco came in only two seconds behind Harvard's Steve Diehl (2:03.069) as the Crimson finished with a near sweep of the event.

Harvard was in command right from the start as the team of Malcolm Cooper (backstroke), Brent Haywood (breaststroke), Tim Neville (butterfly), and Kevin O'Connell (crawl) picked up seven points in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:41.3.

As it turned out, the Brown team was disqualified--the first indication of the kind of night that would be in store for them.

The dominance continued as Harvard took the next five first-places and twelve out of thirteen overall. Dick Burrows mustered Brown's only win with a 2:00.1 clocking in the 200 butterfly.

The Crimson also managed to claim nine of thirteen second-place finishes.

The meet produced only a few significant times. John Bruce (148.6 in the 200 freestyle) and Steve Diehl (203.1 in the 200 backstroke) both failed to shave enough off their times to swim in the Easterns next Saturday, as they barely missed the qualifying times of 1:47 and 2:02.

Paco Canales had little trouble winning the 1000 freestyle, his specialty, but his time (9:49.7) was surprisingly strong, considering his opponent was more than two laps behind him.

The highlight of the meet was the final 400 freestyle relay. Harvard raced Cooper, Dan Taylor, Depman, and Duncan Pyle, among others as the event turned into a melee of comedy.

A specialty team composed of Crimson divers, managers, and assistant managers was inserted by coach Essick (for strategic measures). The competing Brown squad responded by hosting their own show--somersaults off the starting blocks.

Essick had only one comment to make after the meet--"Beat Yale." The Crimson travels to New Haven this Saturday for their final meet of the season.

"We haven't tried talking about Yale till now," Essick said. "But the scenario against them is beautiful. This will be the final meet for Moriarty [Yale's coach], and everyone who holds him dear will be there," he said.