Swim Powerhouse Grows at Blodgett

The scene is Providence, Rhode Island. March 5, 1978. The event is the Eastern Championship Final of the 400-yd. freestyle relay. The outcome will determine the victor of the three-day title meet, the most important yearly event in Eastern swimming. After a heart-stopping eight man duel, it comes down to a fraction of a second--Princeton freshman star Andy O'Hara touches out Crimson superduper star Bobby Hackett to win the race and the meet.

That moment was the one blemish in an otherwise perfect 1977-78 campaign for the Harvard men's swimming team, one that included an undefeated dual meet season, an Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League title, a cascade of individual and team records, and a fifteenth place finish in the NCAA Championships, the Crimson's best since 1963.

This season, second-year coach Joe Bernal's budding program is geared to erase that blemish once and for all. You see, the Tigers have won six Eastern Championships in a row. Harvard has never won. But when the meet comes to Cambridge in early March, things should be different.

The chief reason is probably sophomore sensation Hackett. As a freshman, all the Olympic silver medalist from Yonkers, N.Y., did was set an American record in the 1000-yd. freestyle, establish four University records, win three individual events (all in record time) at Eastern to finish as the meet's high point scorer, and cap it all off by making the finals in three events at NCAA's in Long Beach--one of them a classic head-to-head bout with All-World UCLA freshman Brian Goodell in the 1650-yd. free, which Hackett just barely lost.

Hackett didn't stop there. While most Harvard students were relaxing at their favorite vacation spots this summer, Bobby was working on further proof that he is one of the world's premier swimmers. That's something he's been working on since his adolescence when he dominated the national age-group record books. Bobby kicked off his summer by taking two thirds and a fifth at the AAU National Championships, qualifying him for the U.S. team at the World Games in Berlin.