Princeton Nips Aquamen in Final Relay

For a moment there was nothing but silence.

The meet was over, but the results of the final and deciding event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, still remained deep in the heart of the Blodgett Pool timing system, leaving the main scoreboard blank.

Then they appeared: "Princeton, lane 1, 3:03.44. Harvard, lane 2,3:03.48."

And so, despite the best efforts of a revenge-inspired Harvard men's swimming team Saturday, it was the Tigers who left the Blodgett Pool deck with a 59-54 victory and the Ivy League Championship in their back pockets.

The meet was one of the closest and most exciting in years, with a huge crowd of over 800 getting its money's worth--even if the outcome wasn't what it had hoped for.

The loss was the first for the Crimson (7-1 overall, 5-1 ECAC) since dropping a similar, 60-53, decision to the Tigers (7-0 overall, 5-0 ECAC) one year ago at Princeton's Dillon Pool. It also marks the first time in history that the aquamen have dropped two straight contests to the men from New Jersey.

Harvard Head Coach Joe Bernal, who witnessed only his fifth loss against 84 victories in nine seasons at the helm, remained optimistic about his team's chances during the rest of the season despite the defeat.

"I find it very difficult to believe that two-tenths of a second makes Princeton a better team," said Bernal. "We rebounded after our loss to them last year to win the Eastern Championships and I am confident that we can do it again now."

The meet was not without highlights for the Crimson, however.

In the first event of the afternoon, the 400 medley relay, Harvard's team of Dave Berkoff, Scott Hoy, Peter Egan and John Ritch set new meet and pool records with a time of 3:18.88 while also qualifying for next month's NCAA championships.

Big Bad Berkoff

Berkoff's backstroke relay leg of 48.81 seconds also broke his own previous school and pool record of 50.85 and qualified him for the NCAA meet in the 100 backstroke.

After winning the 200 individual medley with an impressive time of 1:52.32, Berkoff continued on his record rampage by winning the 200 backstroke in meet, pool, and school record time of 1:49.20 seconds.

Other strong Harvard swims were turned in by Egan, Hoy, John Pearson and Chris Smith, each with one victory apiece. Egan won the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:50.87, while Hoy posted a triumph in the 200 breaststroke with a swim of 2:03.21 seconds.

Pearson's win come in the 500 freestyle when he swam a time of 4:30.85, just ahead of the 4:31.40 turned in by Princeton's Drew Rocca. Smith won a tough 200 freestyle race with an outstanding time of 1:39.69 to help give the Crimson a 1-2 sweep of the event.

It was the Tigers' super trio of Richard Hughes, Andrew Robbins and Dan Veatch, however, that turned the meet in Princeton's favor. Hughes and Robbins swept the 100 freestyle and Robbins had a solo win in the 50 free to help the visitors dominate the sprint events, while Veatch triumphed in the 1000 free and finished second in the 200 backstroke.

Diving also played a key role in the Tiger victory, with Doug Kirkman and Joe Rauch finishing 1-3 in the 1-meter competition and 1-2 on the 3-meter board.

In the end, however, it was Veatch, Saadi Ghatan, Robbins and Hughes squeezing out the extra four-hundreths that sent the Tigers home as Ivy League Champions--leaving Harvard vowing to avenge the defeat at next month's Eastern Championships.