Aquamen Drop Quakers; Crimson Cruises, 141-57

Do not be surprised if you see Rob Plunkett swimming down the Charles River sometime this week. The freshman did just about everything else in the men's swimming meet against Penn Saturday afternoon.

Harvard dominated the Quakers, 141-57, in its last home meet of the year as Plunkett swam in every event to continue the Crimson's nine-year freshman ironman tradition in front of 100 spectators at Blodgett Pool.

Harvard (9-2 overall, 7-1 EISL. 5-1 Ivy League) placed first in each of 13 events and several swimmers made time standards for the upcoming Eastern Championships March 4-6 at Brown. The defeat dropped Penn (6-5 overall, 6-3 EISL. 5-2 Ivy) into third place in the Ivies behind Princeton and the Crimson.

For the past nine years, the Crimson's upperclassmen have selected one freshman to swim in every event. Because NCAA rules allow individuals to compete in only three events, Plunkett swam the other eight races unofficially. In addition, during the diving competition, Plunkett was required to swim three 500-yard splits in under six minutes each.

His performance was highlighted by a third-place finish in the 1650 freestyle, the first individual race of the meet. From there, things got considerably tougher.

"I was really honored they selected me as this year's ironman," Plunkett said after being carried off in a stretcher when the meet finally ended. "This was by far the hardest workout ever."

Harvard Coach Joe Bernal said Plunkett's performance "added a nice touch to a meet that could have been more lackadaisical in approach."

Co-Captain Chris Smith, swimming in his final meet at Blodgett Pool, led the Crimson with victories in the 50 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay. Smith also captured the 500 freestyle in an exhibition swim, completing his four-year domination over Penn in this event.

Co-Captain Bill Bird, Greg Tull, and Jay Fisher teamed with Smith in the freestyle relay. Bird also placed best in the 200 butterfly.

Diver Patrick Healy swept the one and three-meter events. Penn's Brad McNamee took Healy to the limit in the three-meter competition, but fell one point short in the final tally.

The Crimson is now busy preparing for Saturday's meet at Yale, the regular-season finale, and the Easterns at Brown. There, it hopes to avenge a 111-106 loss to Princeton, the EISL's top squad, two weeks ago.

"Just like any other Harvard-Yale thing, the swimming rivalry is full of tradition," Bernal said. "It should be a good meet."