W. Swimming Breezes By B.U.

Even though the score of the Harvard women's swim team's last meet seems close, its defeat of Boston University showed its dominance over local competition.

The Crimson crippled the Terriers early, winning the first four events handily, and then began to have some key swimmers compete unofficially so as not to humiliate their opponents with an overwhelming loss. HARVARD  163 B.U.  125

Despite the overall lack of competitive races, the Crimson swimmers still remained focused on swimming at their best.

"Before the meet," said sophomore standout Nancy Jo, "[Coach Steff Wreide] told us that this would be our last opportunity to practice our events before Princeton. And I think that we got ourselves fine tuned so we can perform at our peak against Princeton next weekend."

The Crimson did have some impressive Performances. The squad handily defeated the Terrier relays and had several important individual swims.

Sophomore Adrienne Leight began the charge by leading a 1-2-3 Crimson finish in the 400 Individual Medley, which she won several body lengths ahead of the field. However, the victory meant less to Leight than her time of 4:33.5.

"Since the 400 I.M. isn't part of next weekend's meet schedule," said Leight, "this was my last chance to fine tune every detail of it before Ivies, which are only three and a half weeks away.

"Everyone on the team used the meet to get ready for the rest of the season. In this last month of the season, it's important to mentally and physically prepare ourselves for the Ivies."

The Ivy Championships and next weekend's dual meet against Princeton were focal points in the swimmers' and divers' inspiration last Saturday.

The divers contributed handsomely against B.U. with encouraging performances, splitting the two events of the meet with the same Terrier divers they dove with on their training trip.

"The meet had a lot less pressure than usual," said Junior Courtney Swain, "because we all knew how these divers compete. It was actually a very friendly atmosphere, and we had a lot of fun with it. At the same time, though, I wanted to use the meet to gain confidence before Princeton and the Ivies."

The divers were not the only ones to get a last-minute confidence boost going into the crucial stage of the season. Sophomore Alexis Todor swam her best event, the 200 Breastsroke, for the first time since a scooter accident left her sidelined a month ago.

"I was really excited for this meet against B.U.," said Todor, "because it was my first 200 Breaststroke in so long. I was ecstatic that I swam well because I know that I will be ready for Princeton and the Ivies along with the rest of the team."

The squad appears to be not only anxious for another challenge, but well-prepared. In fact, Harvard won 13 of the 16 events in last Saturday's meet, although some of the victories were not counted in the total scoring.

However, dominating the Terriers is not this season's final goal for the squad. Its overall success will depend greatly on a tough Princeton dual meet and the Ivy Championships.