Coglin Takes on All and 'Always Wins'

After a quick water pistol fight with his roommate. Michael Coglin lies down on his water bed wearing a Harvard swimming t-shirt and says, "I hate water."

Coglin's desire to get out of the despised water might explain why he swims so fast, but talent, experience and pride also contribute to the All-American's success in the pool.

At the Eastern Seaboard Championships March 1-3 at Blodgett Pool, the Eliot House sophomore qualified in four events for next week's NCAA championships while registering the fifth highest individual point total.

Coglin set new Eastern, Harvard and pool records in the 200-yd. individual medley, a race he jokingly terms "a boring old bugger," and in the 400 IM touched a mere .11 seconds behind first place finisher and teammate, Ron Raikula.

The engineering major also anchored both freestyle relay teams, including the pivotal 800-yd. relay in which Coglin held off Tiger Andrew Saltzman and secured a .03-second victory for the Crimson.

Gleamin' for the Team

"I'm a team man and if the team needs me to swim well for it to win, then I will," Coglin said.

"In a tough race there's absolutely no way Mike will let someone beat him," teammate Bobby Hackett said, referring to Coglin's outstanding performance against Saltzman.

Last year at the Nationals, Hackett and Coglin teamed up with Malcolm Cooper and Julian Mack to place twelfth in the 800-yd. relay and receive All-American status.

Despite the title, however, Coglin is "not an all-American boy," Mack said.

Born in Scotland, Coglin moved to Malaysia where he lived for eight years before moving to Kenya. Coincidentally, his mother taught swimming at a local golf club to a group of youngsters which included Coglin's future teammate, Tim Maximoff.

"My mom threw me in the water when I was two and a half," Coglin said. By the time he reached seven and a half, he was competing on Kenya's National Team.

At age 12, Coglin travelled to England to study at the Millfield School and train for the 1976 British Olympic Team.

The 6-ft., 160-pounder missed qualifying for the 200-yd. freestyle by a fraction of a second but finished fifth in the country while the top four Britons went on to capture a bronze medal in the 800 relay in Montreal.

Back in England, Coglin's coach selected the 1500-yd. freestyle as the outstanding 1976 Olympic race and impressed upon his charges silver-medalist Hackett's outstanding stamina and kick.

A year later, upon arriving at Harvard halfway into freshman week, the British superstar discovered his roommate was none other than Hackett who greeted him with, "Coglin, where the hell have you been?"

While Hackett often overshadowed his teammate in the pool, the coaches awarded Coglin the William Brooks award for "outstanding effort and achievement" at the end of the season.

"When Coglin arrived his arm stroke was rough and needed adjustment. He also needed to learn how to sprint," coach Joe Bernal said.

The brown-haired, blue-eyed swimmer feels his body position is his greatest asset and says "no matter how bad my stroke is, my body position is good."

Coglin, however, stressed the importance of psychological buildup over physical training in swimming. "It's all in the mind, people either fall apart or come together up there," he said.

"At meets, I see everyone who has been doing the same work as me with Bernal swimming well, and I know I've got no other option than to swim well; and just that confidence alone is good for your brain," Coglin added.

In addition to not letting the team down, the "slimey limey" depends on pride as a motive for getting psyched.

"Coglin's an incredibly fierce competitor who won't lose to anyone without a battle," Mack said.

Sometimes, this intense competition spills over into practice where Coglin often challenges his teammates in the Ali "I am the greatest" style.

"Coglin will challenge a breaststroker in practice and even if he loses he'll jump up and down with clenched fists and yell, 'I'm number one,' "freshman Jack Gauthier said.

Coglin, however, thrives on rivalry. "I swim on hate," he said, adding "You've got to beat the other guy or else you can't got to beat the other guy or else you can't face up to your own life."

While Cogin plainly admits he likes glory, his goal in swimming is "to get more out of it than I put in," which might explain why he's missed 70 per cent of the morning practices this year.

Team captian Malcolm Cooper, who said he missed 100 per cent of the morning practices last year, described Coglin as one of the many team members who "swim for the team and not the coach."

Bernal agreed that Coglin "worked as hard as anyone else" but added he was "temperamental."

Exhibiting his dry British wit. Coglin summed up his relationship with Bernal as "We get along swimmingly."

Most of the team appreciates the humor as Mack explained, "Coglin will come down to the pool dressed in a pimp's outfit or big ski boots and everyone will just die."

Hackett gave Coglin a taste of his own medicine by saying, "He's always good-natured, plus he thinks he's the best-looking guy around."

"Mike's fun to have at practice, although we'd like to lock him in a closet for a week or two," Bernal said.