Stone's Dives Lift Swimmers

John Walker, Harvard diving coach, put it quite simply: "She's terrific."

He was speaking, of course, of freshman diving sensation Pam Stone, who won the one-meter dive and added a third-place finish in the three-meter event to highlight a solid performance by the Crimson in the Small College Swimming and Diving National Championships held in Reno, Nev. over the weekend.

Harvard finished 26th overall in the field of 56, with a score of 52. The hosting University of Nevada-Reno won with 349.

But the big story was Stone. The Louisville, Ky. native topped off a fine year by capturing the one-meter dive on Thursday with 401.55 points and coming back Saturday to take third place in the three-meter event with a 383.65 mark--only 8.6 points behind the winner.

Walker said she would have won the three-meter dive if she hadn't "missed her spot," which he called an "aggressive mistake." He said the error "cost her three points with each judge, and she needed two more from each to win."

Stone, who could not be reached yesterday, spearheaded a freshman attack that saw all of Harvard's 52 points accounted for by members of the Class of '82. Adele M. Joel finished 11th in the 50-yd. breaststroke with a time of 32.54, then went one better and took 10th place in the 100-yd. breaststroke. Emily Feldman was the only other Crimson swimmer to reach the finals, taking 14th spot in the 200-yd. backstroke by posting a time of 1:10.23.

An all-freshman relay team of Joel, Feldman, Julia K. McAree, and Maura P. Costin just missed stroking its way into the finals of the 400-yd. Medley by 1.14 seconds and had to settle for 18th place.

Joel and Feldman said the high altitude and thin air of Reno hampered the swimmers, making it difficult to breathe. Feldman, who also placed 32nd in the 500-yd. freestyle, said the altitude "was definitely a disadvantage and almost a psyche-out."

She added, "Considering the circumstances it was a pretty good showing."

But the altitude had no effect on Stone, who is used to the height after all of her long hours of practice on the diving platform. As Walker said, "she has earned her accomplishments."

He explained his confidence in Stone this way: "I had a feeling after the Greater Bostons and the Ivy League meet that she might have a chance to win here. When I saw the competition, I felt even stronger. And once we got into the meet, I knew she could win."