A Heated Meeting of Two Aquatic Giants

Tomorrow afternoon at Dillon Pool, on the campus of Princeton University, a capacity crowd will witness the third chapter in a drama unrivaled in recent Ivy League swimming history.

The Princeton Tigers against the Harvard Crimson. Two swim meets. First the men, then the women. Both of them battles for Ancient Eight crowns.

In the men's meet, for the third straight year, the Tigers (6-0 overall, 5-0 ECAC, 4-0 Ivy) and the Crimson (4-1, 4-1, 3-0) both enter the match-up undefeated in Ivy League competition.

Princeton has not lost an Ivy dual meet since the 1983-'84 season, although Harvard has come close the last two years. But the Crimson has its own special streak: it has won the Eastern Championships for the past eight years running.

In 1985, Harvard traveled to the Tigers' den, but fell in the final event--the 400-yd. freestyle relay--by three-tenths of a second, giving the home team seven points and the meet, 60-53.

Last year, in front of 1000 spectators at Blodgett Pool, the same thing happened. In the last relay, with the meet on the line, Princeton finished on top by the narrowest of margins, a mere four-hundredths of a second, and won, 59-54.

In both meets, those victories were good enough for Ivy League championships.

Loud, Vulgar, and Drunk

This year, Harvard has to be considered the underdog for a number of reasons. First, Dillon is not your friendly YMCA pool, although it looks like one. The partisan Tiger crowd tomorrow will be loud. And vulgar. And drunk.

Second, direct comparison favors Princeton. A good Army team nipped Harvard in December. The Tigers routed Army less than a month ago.

Many people are also aware that this may be Princeton's last big season. Several of its star swimmers are seniors--including standouts Dan Veatch, Rich Korhammer, Saadi Ghatan and Richard Hughes.

The Crimson, on the other hand, is an extremely young team. Only four of its members are seniors, with the rest of the squad made up of talented youngsters who should carry Harvard swimming into the '90s.

Finally, the Tigers are three-time defending Ivy League champions. For the Crimson, only seniors Clay Miller, Hugh Murray, and Co-Captains Lars Reierson and Dan Simkowitz--all on the team three years ago when the Crimson tied Princeton, Columbia and Cornell for the league crown--know what it's like to win a league title.

"In order for us to win, it is highly important that we keep our minds on what we are doing, "Harvard Coach Joe Bernal said. "If we concentrate on the meet, things should work out. But if we are distracted by the pool, the crowd and the noise, there could be trouble."

Bernal also thinks that the Crimson is not as well prepared as it should be: "We have to be tougher mentally. Right now, I think that Princeton is more hungry for this meet than we are."

While the men's meet is a battle of the league's best, the womens competition looks like a clash between the potential champion and the spoiler. Harvard (6-0 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) is the defending Ancient Eight champion and has not lost a league meet in nearly two years.

Princeton (2-3 overall, 2-2 Ivy League), meanwhile, has struggled this season, but would like nothing better than ruining the Crimson's hopes for a second straight title.

No visiting team venturing to Dillon Pool should be comfortable. The Harvard women know that the Tigers will shave down in an effort to increase speed.

"This is Princeton's biggest meet of the season, and they have absolutely nothing to lose," said Harvard Coach Maura Costin Scalise. "This will be our first real challenge and I am looking forward to it. Right now, we have to be getting mentally ready.