Harvard Swimmers Paint Over Big Red in Ithaca

It was double devestation for Cornell's swimming teams Saturday in Ithaca, as both the Harvard men's and women's squads posted impressive victories over the host Big Red.

In the first meet of the day at Teagle Pool, the Crimson men dominated Cornell by a 114-79 margin. Soon afterward. Harvard's women followed through with a 167-99 triumph.

For the men's team (8-2 overall, 6-1 EISL, 4-1 Ivy League), the meet indicated a solid rebound from last week's tough loss to Princeton, in which the Crimson took seven of 13 races but fell by a five-point margin.

Saturday, Harvard swimmers placed first in every event until the 500-yd, freestyle. when the Crimson began to enter races under exhibition status in order to keep the score respectable. Even so, nine of 13 races went Harvard's way in a meet which began with a 1-2-3 Crimson sweep in the 400 medley relay.

Senior Tom Osteraas paced the Harvard attack against Cornell, posting one individual and two relay victories. His triumph in the 100 freestyle was the first of his collegiate career.

Harvard swimmers also shattered three pool records in Ithaca, bringing its Teagle Pool total to six. Senior Co-Captain Chris Smith broke the 200 freestyle record, senior Jeffrey Peltier grabbed the 400 individual medley mark and freshman Scott Jaffe's time of 2:05.35 was best-ever for the course in the 200 breaststroke.

Harvard's women's swimming team (9-1 overall, 6-0 Ivy League) took its meet with similar ease. The Big Red snagged first in the opening event, the 200 medley relay, but then the Crimson claimed 11 straight events to put the contest away. Again, exhibition swimmers kept the Harvard score down.

Junior Linda Suhs had a strong afternoon for the Crimson, swimming to three individual victories. Suhs finished on top in both the 50 and 100 freestyle races and finished the triple with a first in the 100-yd. backstroke.

Harvard Head Coach Maura Costin Scalise missed the trip to Ithaca after giving birth to her first child, son Michael Joseph, on Wednesday morning. But Coach Carol Landry assumed the reigns for the weekend and produced the favorable result.

The Crimson triumph sets up a very exciting week at Blodgett Pool. First, this Saturday, Harvard meets undefeated Penn in a dual meets for the Ivy title. Both squads are 6-0 in the league, and Penn is geared up to snap the Crimson's two-year title streak.

Then, five days later, on February 25-8, Harvard plays host to the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Championships. The Crimson has never placed first at the Eastern meet but is considered the number-one challenger to Brown.