New Faces, New Places

At the very least, Harvard got geographic diversity when it got freshman Tim Ford, who arrived in Cambridge in mid-January. The 18-year-old hails from Turramurra, Australia--which is farther away than Andover, Mass. or Exeter, N. H.

But Harvard got a lot more in the newly arrived Canaday Hall resident. Ford is one of the premier distance swimmers around, ranked as high as fourth in the world in 1500 meter freestyle. Simply put, Ford's credentials are almost as impressive as Bobby Hackett's were when he arrived in 1977 with Coach Joe Bernal to resurrect Harvard men's swimming.

Ford's arrival is one of two major developments down Blodgett Pool way. The other is the scheduling of two dual meets with teams outside the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League (EISL). The net result of the additions may be some truly challenging competition for the aquamen after two consecutive undefeated seasons in the EISL and two possible threats to their 26-meet winning streak--currency the longest in Division I swimming For the first meet, the Crimson travels to Penn State for a January 30 match-up with the Nittany Lions.

Whether Ford, whom Bernal describes as "a flexible, coachable guy," will be ready to compete by Sunday is still undetermined. The yarding is recovering from a bout with mononucleosis this fall and is still getting accustomed to the American way of life. Harvard style.

"I'd like to see him get his feet wet so he gets a taste of what he's getting into before the [February 5] Princeton meet," said Bernal Apparently, Ford's experience in head-to-head clashes in dual meets is limited.

"I've only seen him swim once, and that was a year ago in Japan," explained Bernal "I don't know him as a competitor yet."

Regardless of his previous experience Ford is not going to be just another body in the pool. His principal duty will be in the 1000 free, thus freeing senior Captain Ted Chappell from responsibilities in that event. That makes Bernal nothing but happy.

"Ted has been one of the best 500 freestylers in the nation and he is going to shine even more in that event if he can concentrate on it," Bernal said, "We're going to let him loose on it and let him beat Tony Corbisiero [the Columbia senior who currently holds the American record in the 800 meter froa] at Easterns."

Bernal is also pleased to be able to face teams outside the EISL for the first time since powerhouse Indians came to Blodgett for a dual meet in 1979. "This breaks the ice," he said of the scheduling of Penn State and LaSalle, runners up to the aquamen at the Eastern Seaboard Championships a year ago. "This is a vehicle for us to show that we are willing to swim teams outside our league in the East or anywhere else," explained Bernal, who in the past has been vocal about the need to get meets that will test his troops before they reach the NCAA championships. "We are not hiding from anybody and hopefully nobody will hide from us."

Although LaSalle is already making substantial preparations for its February 18 confrontation with the Crimson in Philadelphia and Penn State itching for a chance to break the Harvard winning skein, neither team poses the caliber of competition Bernal wants, But they are start.

Though the Nittany Lions boast strong divers and spoilers. Bernal said his charges would be able to handle the challenge, "On paper, they don't look as laugh as us," he said.

The latter strength is the most worrisome for the aquamen, Junior Mike Miao, University record bolder in both the 50 and 100 free, has been out most of the season with a nagging shoulder injury and probably won't see any action. But Bernal said he is confident senior Jim Cartone, Junior Bob Tyler and sophomores Bob Hrabchak and Matt Davis can fill the void.

If they can, and the Crimson handles both LaSalle and Penn State, Harvard men's swimming may have entered a new era-one of geographic diversity in its swimmers and its competition.