Team of the Year: M. Swimming Goes Undefeated, Again

If you want to see a really good team in action, don't go to the match.

Go to the practices. That's where all good teams start out. Challenging each other, working out together, building a camaraderie and confidence that only the top teams have.

The Harvard men's swimming team is tops in the Ivy League, and has been as long as most students have been around. The team's meets are fun, fast and successful. The result of the countless hours in the pool? A 40-3 record in dual meets in that period.

"Part of the reason we were able to achieve is that, on a daily basis, we challenged each other," said senior Brian Swinteck. "In the pool, in the weight room, it built a lot of chemistry which leads to a high level of success."

There it is. Second-year Harvard Coach Tim Murphy had not only eight seniors to work with, but also a strong class of freshman swimmers. Instead of egos clashing, the elder statesmen nurtured and encouraged the amazing youngsters, creating another year of competitive Crimson success.

The long road started last summer. After a 1999 season that saw Harvard win its fourth straight Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League Championship, the summer camp opened with high-fives and high hopes.

"When I came in, I had high expectations," said freshman Dan Shevchik, one of the most surprising rookies. "I wanted to help coming in and had the expectations to win. The guys in the freshman class are really great, and we are close."

The upperclassmen had seen it all before, of course, but something was a little different this time.

"[The freshmen] came to campus with the right mindset," Swinteck said. "They made the upperclassmen aware of their presence."

The regular season, which has become largely a formality for Harvard recently, started Nov. 19 in West Point, N.Y., in a tri-meet against the United States Military Academy and Columbia. The Crimson opened with a bang, crushing Army, 177-66, and Columbia, 152-91.

Tri-captain Tim Martin, the unchallenged star of the team, paced the competition by winning the 1000-meter freestyle in one of the fastest times in the country. The youth also turned up in the opening meet, with freshmen Ryan Parmenter and Rick Dewey placing first and second in the 200 freestyle and sophomore Matt Wrenshall finishing third. Other standouts included junior Michael Im and Shevchik.

In early December, Harvard went on the road for some out-of-league action, competing in the University of Virginia Invitational against the host team, West Virginia and Villanova. The Crimson pulled off an impressive 1-2-3 finish in the 50 freestyle with juniors Jamey Waters and Matt Fritsch and freshman Leif Drake taking the top spots, respectively. Martin, who is also a Crimson editor, won the 400 freestyle and also solidified his reputation as "The Distance King," posting an impressive 15:02.29 in the 1650 freestyle for an easy victory.

Im also had an impressive meet, winning both the 100 and 200 backstroke races.

After winter break and a week-long training trip, the team faced Navy in early January. While one might expect the Naval Academy to dominate a water-based sport, the opposite was true, as Harvard won, 161-82. The Crimson won nine of 13 events, including a sweep of the top three spots in the mile, the 200 butterfly and the 200 backstroke. However, the team did lose the 200 freestyle relay, as it had the year before, and Murphy was not happy.

In late January, Harvard took on Brown in what amounted to a warm-up for the all-important Harvard-Yale-Princeton tri-meet the following week. The Crimson doubled up Brown, 163.5-78.5, and Shevchik had a breakthrough meet, which included setting a personal best in the 200 backstroke.

Finally, Harvard faced its first real test in the H-Y-P meet during the first weekend in February. A strong crowd at Blodgett Pool buoyed the Crimson, who sent the Bulldogs limping home, 215.5-137.5.

Princeton, however, was a tougher foe. Harvard only won three events the first day, including Martin's 10-second victory in the mile, and closed the day down 17 points to the Tigers. The Crimson came out firing the next day. It took the top five spots in the 100 freestyle, led by Waters, tri-captain Ben Rosen and Swinteck. Freshman Erik Patton also won a diving event, upsetting the perennially strong Tiger squad. Harvard finished the meet with a 192.5-160.5 come-from-behind victory.

The next two weeks were easy meets against the rest of the league competition. Harvard hosted and soundly won a tri-meet against Cornell and Dartmouth, beating the Big Red, 136-72, and the Big Green, 145-77. The freshmen starred again, with Drake, Andrew McConnell and Corey Walker all winning events. Martin picked up wins in the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly.

Harvard embarrassed Penn the next week. For two hours, the Quakers looked as if they were onlookers at a Harvard practice. The Crimson took the opportunity to rest some of its best swimmers and still won 227-54. Penn failed to win an event, and Harvard swept the top three spots in 10 of the 12 events. With the win, Harvard closed out another undefeated league season.

Sometimes, maybe it's just too easy.

"We knew we were going to win going into each meet. Meets like those help you lose focus," Shevchik said.

But Harvard never did lose focus.

"The league competition, for the most part, can be pretty easy, except for teams like Princeton and Yale," Swinteck said. "What we do is have a particular goal for each meet. Hopefully, when we face an easy meet like Dartmouth, we can be a better team than we were before."

Harvard then went to the postseason Eastern championships at Princeton. With the Crimson holding the lead from start to finish, the meet turned into more of an opportunity for Harvard swimmers to qualify for the NCAA tournament and Olympic trials than a competition. In addition to Martin and Shevchik--whose times in the 400 individual medley and 200 backstroke qualified him--Harvard qualified ten others for the Olympic trials, including Waters, Im, Swinteck and tri-captain Brian Cadman. Harvard won the meet by a comfortable margin.

In addition, several swimmers took home big awards. Martin and Shevchik shared the Moriarty award, given to the highest point scorers in the meet and, more impressively, Martin received the Ulen Trophy, awarded to the senior who has scored the most points in his four-year Eastern league career.

On the weekend of March 23-25, the Crimson sent several swimmers to the NCAA tournament in Minneapolis. Out of the 37-team field, Harvard finished 26th, which, while impressive, was slightly disappointing because it had finished higher in earlier years. Shevchik led the team while earning All-American honors, taking eighth place in the 200 backstroke and 12th in the 400 individual medley. McConnell finished 19th in the 1500 freestyle, with Martin only three spots behind.

With NCAAs marking the end of the season, the team has had a chance to savor its success. But it also has to think about its future. In addition to Martin, Rosen and Cadman are leaving along with six other seniors. Martin's departure will hurt the most because, in addition to his three NCAA appearances, he was a GTE Academic All-American and the team's most consistent performer. Put more simply, he has been the fastest distance freestyle swimmer in the program's history.

"The captains and the older guys are really great; they help and guide us a lot," Shevchik said.

Don't expect Harvard's dominance to end, however. The Team of the Year is strong up and down the lineup. Coach Murphy will still be at the helm, and next year's captains, Fritsch and Mike Groves, should do a good job. Of course, there still is that magical freshman class.

"We have been blessed with an incredible freshman class," Swenteck said. "They really surprised everybody, because you don't expect freshmen to do anything substantial."

A testament to the team's depth will be its large presence at the United States Olympic Trials, to be held the second week of August in Indianapolis. Swimming is a premier event, so the swimmers realize they are major underdogs.

But don't be worried. You can bet they will be practicing hard, pushing each other in the weight room, in the pool, on jogs, even in stretches. After all, that's where a great team is made.