Aquamen Again Cruise to GBC Title; Crimson Outscores Terriers by 262

Down by 13 points with only three events left, B.U. got clutch performances from Craig Mallery, Tom Pollard, and Scott Sawyer to grab second place in the Greater Boston Swimming Championship yesterday at Blodgett Pool.

Of course, the Terriers finished 262 points behind first-place Harvard, but everyone knew the unbeaten Crimson would decimate the competitor.

In a meet that lasted almost four hours and included stirring matchups such as the Tufts "E" 400 medley relay team versus the Tufts "F" team and the MIT "B" team. Harvard won 12 out of 15 events and amassed a total of 695 points.

Close Call

The closest competition of the day came at the very end of the meet, in the final heat of the 400 medley relay, when Harvard touched out the B.U. team to clinch the event by four one hundredths of a second and set a new GBC meet record of 3:36.35.

Dave Phillips pushed the relay team to a slight lead with a strong showing in the backstroke. Breaststroker Jack Ewing maintained the advantage and best his nemesis, Sawyer, by less than a tenth of a second. Tim Maximoff lengthened the Crimson's lead during his butterfly leg, and freestyler Andy Lockman held off Pollard to reach the touchpad first.

B.U.'s Sawyer captured both the 100 and 200 breaststroke races, establishing two new GBC records, 58.69 in the 100 and 2:08.96 in the 200. In the 200, Sawyer beat Ewing, the former record holder by more than five seconds, later taking the GBC 100 title away from the Crimson's Jim Carbone.

Clearasil

But Sawyer's victories and teammate Brad Howe's squeaker in the 100-yd. freestyle were the only blemishes on the Crimson record all evening.

"The team did very well, considering the circumstances," coach Joe Bernal said afterwards. "We practiced before the meet, and it's hard to swim at your optimum when you're winning so handily." The squad, meanwhile, debated whether the members would get pizza or burgers as a post-victory treat.

The Crimson backstrokers certainly performed well despite a lack of competition. Julian Bott and Bob Hrabchak finished first and second in the 200-yd. backstroke and first and third in the 100. Bott's 58 13 time at the half-point was significantly faster than most of the other swimmers' time in the 100.

After three hours, 47 minutes and over 45 heats, Harvard proved what everyone had already known that the Crimson aquamen are the class of the Boston area.