Easterns Kick Off at Blodgett; Crimson Looks For 8th Straight

Adrenaline will run long and hair short this afternoon when the 46th annual Eastern Seaboard Swimming and Diving Championships get underway at Blodgett Pool.

Thirty-one teams stretching the East Coast will take part in the three-day meet, which traditionally features more hairless men--swimmmers traditionally "shave down" in an attempt to gain speed--than a convention on baldness.

A place in the record books is at stake for Harvard, as it attempts to tie the mark of eight consecutive championships set by Yale from 1963-70. Harvard last lost the title in 1978, when it was defeated by a tough Princeton squad.

The competition also gives Harvard a chance to earn revenge on both Cornell and Princeton, who gave the Crimson its only two dual-meet losses of the year last month.

But revenge never comes easy. And with the meet expected to be the fastest in Eastern Seaboard history, the challenge is made even harder for the aquamen.

Harvard Head Coach Joe Bernal expects the meet to be extremely quick and close. "Three of the four meet records should fall in the first-day events," said Bernal. "Without question, this year's meet will be the fastest ever and, as a result, the final outcome should not be decided until the last events on Saturday."

Today's events, with preliminary heats begin at 12 p.m., include the 500-yd. freestyle, the 200 individual medley, the 50 freestyle and the 400 medley relay, in addition to the 1-meter diving competition.

The finals and consolation finals begin tonight at 7:30 p.m.

In last year's Easterns, held at Smith Swimming Center in Providence, R.I., Harvard finished in first place with 646 points. Princeton earned second with 498 points, and Penn State wound up third with 318.

Today's 50 freestyle race will showcase Cornell's Randy Sprout, who last year set the current meet record of 20.21 seconds in the event. Sprout also won the 100 free and copped the Phil Moriarity Award, given annually to the high point scorer of the Championships.

The first six swimmers in last year's 500 freestyle will again be present today, led by defending champion Dan Veatch of Princeton, who won the event with a time of 4:27.09. Veatch also swam to victory in the 200 backstroke one year ago.

Expect the 400 medley relay record to fall by a wide margin today. Harvard's seed time of 3:18.88, from the Princeton meet one month ago, is already over two seconds under the Eastern meet best of 3:21.18, set by the Tigers last year.

Defending champion David Berkoff of Harvard will lead the field in the 200 individual medley, but is matched closely with Princeton's Richard Hughes, the runner-up in last year's race.

Over 30 divers will vie for victory on the 1-meter board this afternoon. Harvard's Dan Watson, the winner on both boards last year, is no longer eligible for intercollegiate competition, which leaves the event in the air. The University of Pittsburgh boasts the largest diving corps, with five making the journey to Cambridge.

By the end of the meet on Saturday night, only one team will stand above the rest. Until that time, however, Blodgett Pool will witness the fastest swimming this side of the Appalachians.

And lots of it.