Bernal Recovers From Crash, Should Travel to NCAA Meet

Only nine days after being carried to Massachusetts General Hospital. Harvard men's swimming Coach Joe Bernal is making a remarkable recovery from a serious car crash. Though on crutches, Bernal visited Blodgett pool yesterday, staying long enough to shout encouragement to some of his charges.

Bernal should be able to resume coaching duties in time for the NCAA Championships in Milwaukee, Wisc in two weeks, Assistant Coach Ken Oberg said yesterday.

Bionic Man

"What he's doing is absolutely amazing," Oberg said, adding. "He doesn't realize how lucky he is."

Bernal was found lying in his totaled car on Interstate 93 around midnight of March 7. The coach had left Blodgett about 10:30 that night to visit a friend in Marblehead.

While trying to pass on the rainy highway, Bernal collided with a car that had been abandoned in the passing lane Minutes after Bernal plowed into the stopped car, a passing Emergency Medical Technician spotted the coach and rushed him to the hospital. Though he suffered no bone fractures, Bernal did have deep bruises in his pelvis and left leg which have kept him from walking.

"He is lucky to be alive right now," Oberg said. "His car looks like an accordion. They [the doctors] told me that if he had not been in such good shape he might have been a goner." Oberg added. Bernal, who runs regularly, felt fit enough to leave the hospital and enter UHS on Tuesday.

Since his return, friends have showered Bernal with get-well wishes. In addition to sending many cards, the swimmers bought Bernal a bouquet of crimson flowers. Even his arch-rival, Coach John Collins of the New York Badgers Swim Club, flew up to wish Bernal well.

"You never realize how many good friends you have until something like this happens," Bernal said.

In five years at Harvard, Bernal has captured five Ivy League titles and four Eastern Seaboard Championships while compiling a 49-1 record. The swim team has not lost a meet in the past two seasons. Last week, only a day before Bernal's accident, Harvard clinched its fourth straight Eastern crown.