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Crawling 5,000 yards an hour.

In his Olympic run, Younger logged up to 20,000 yards a day in double-session workouts. Photograph by Tim Morse

Next to the Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic swimming trials are probably the toughest meet in the sport, since the United States is indisputably the strongest swimming nation in the world. In March 1996, in Indianapolis, one Harvard swimmer, Brian Younger '98, entered those trials in the 1,500-meter freestyle, which is the sport's longest and, according to many, its most demanding event. When Younger marched out with the other athletes before his race, he noted that the parents of many of the swimmers "were going crazy in the stands. But my parents were just enjoying themselves, sitting there, smiling." The elder Youngers saw their son swim a superb race, recording a personal best of 15:24, fully 10 seconds faster than he had gone in an Olympic preliminary meet. The performance earned him fourth place, but not a berth on the team, since only the top two finishers went to Atlanta. But in Younger's highly athletic family, "It's really OK if you don't win," he says. "It's what you put into it, the effort and the commitment."

Younger's athletic achievement is all the more amazing because he did not take a year off to train for the Games, as most Olympic aspirants do. Harvard men's swimming coach Mike Chasson advised Younger that a year of dedicated training might help his chances at Indianapolis, but the sophomore was adamant about not leaving Harvard: "My first priority here is academics," Younger says. In a way, his individual accomplishments are a microcosm of what the men's swimming team as a whole has achieved: without benefit of athletic scholarships, the Crimson aquamen finished sixteenth in the nation last spring, and this year, suiting up what could be the strongest Harvard squad ever, they might conceivably crack the top 10.

The men reeled off 10 wins to start their season, including convincing victories over top-20, athletic-scholarship schools like Florida State (145-98) and Virginia (169-73). At the Big Three meet, a shaved and rested Princeton squad edged Harvard by three points (83-80), but look for a shaved and rested Crimson to repeat as Ivy champions after the Easterns. Last year's Harvard team boasted seven all-Americans (swimmers finishing among the top 16 in their events at the NCAA championships). All seven are back, joined by some strong freshmen and new transfer students. "These guys are special," says Chasson. "Most could have taken athletic scholarships at other schools. Here, they have to work during the summers."

The young squad, which has only five seniors among its 27 athletes, might get as many as 12 swimmers into this year's NCAA meet. Harvard is strong in all events and is a real powerhouse in freestyle, where Younger swims amid fast company such as his Lowell House roommate Eric Matuszak '98, Matt Cornue '98, Mike Kiedel '98, Jon Samuel '99, and Alex Kurmakov '99. Four of these six will likely comprise Harvard's 800-meter freestyle relay team at the NCAA meet. They might have a shot at the national championship.

"These guys work as hard as swimmers at any school in the country," say Chasson, and nobody works harder than Younger. While many competitive swimmers log 2,000 to 3,000 yards in a two-hour workout, Younger regularly swims 9,000 to 10,000 yards in the same time. His main competitive weapon is the tremendous stamina he has developed over years of such high-level training. "I force people to go out fast to stay with me; late in the race I can still hold that pace, but they can't" is his simple account of his winning strategy.

With long legs and a relatively short torso, Younger has an endurance swimmer's body. As a freshman, he set Eastern records in the 1,000-yard (9:04:08) and 1,650-yard events (15:06:79); he's also the second-fastest swimmer in Harvard history in the 500-, 1,000-, and 1,650-yard freestyle events (he trails Olympian Bobby Hackett '81). Last year he finished sixth in the NCAAs in the 500 freestyle and eighth in the 1,650 free. The latter was a disappointment (Younger had been seeded first) occasioned by his training for the Olympic 1,500-meter event, swum in a 50-meter pool; the 1,650-yard race, swum in a 25-yard pool, is of comparable distance but has twice the number of turns.

Harvard has some new arrivals, like freshman Tim Martin, who excel at the long 1,650-yard distance. So this year Younger will focus more on the 500- and 200-yard freestyle events. "At Harvard, I've never really exploited my talents at those distances," he says. Such challenges, along with an economics concentration, a part-time research job with Fidelity Investments, and volunteer work, should keep him busy. Clearly, Younger is achieving the goal that his parents set for him and his two brothers when they first started swimming in St. Louis: his mother declared that swimming would "keep them off the streets." Maybe so, but Younger is still logging mileage in the lanes.

~ Craig Lambert

Winter Sports

Men's Basketball

Top scorer Kyle Snowden puts in a layup.Photograph by Tim Morse

The mens' season (12-6, 5-1 Ivy) began as one of streaks: four wins, then three losses, then two wins followed by three tough losses (those three by a combined total of 11 points)--and then six straight victories, five of them over Ivy opponents. Perhaps the most significant pair of games was a home loss (69-60) to Dartmouth that Harvard avenged by beating the Big Green at Hanover, 64-56. The upshot is that Harvard is a contender for the league title. At mid season, senior forward Kyle Snowden had 833 career rebounds, a new Harvard record. Snowden was also the leading Crimson scorer, with a 16.7 points-per-game average, and was headed for his second consecutive Ivy rebounding title.

Women's Basketball

After mixed results early in the season, the Crimson women's team (11-6, 5-0 Ivy) began to gel at just the right moment--the start of the Ivy League season. As 1997 began, Harvard was 6-5, but then reeled off five straight victories over Ivy opponents, beginning with an 81-68 mastery of rival Dartmouth in front of 2,000 Green fans in Hanover. Columbia gave Harvard a scare before falling, 70-62, in a game that saw star forward Allison Feaster '98 play only 16 minutes due to early foul trouble. Feaster made amends the next night, exploding for a career-high 35 points in an 85-62 trouncing of Cornell. At mid season, guard Jessica Gelman '97, with 409 assists, was only 26 assists away from breaking Harvard's record of 434.

Squash

The men's squash team (6-0, 4-0 Ivy) looked headed for a seventh consecutive national championship after toughing out a 5-4 win at Princeton, this year's top rival. That win, on Groundhog Day, was the 76th consecutive regular-season victory for Harvard, whose top player is national singles champion Daniel Ezra '98.

The women's squad (5-0, 4-0 Ivy) also took down Princeton, 5-4, in another Groundhog Day win that may foreshadow a sixth straight national championship. The team thus stretched its winning streak to 46 regular-season matches. Junior Ivy Pochoda, who reached the national singles final last year, is the team's top player.

Hockey

The young men's squad (7-11-2, 6-7-2 ECAC), which has 17 of its 26 roster slots filled by freshmen and sophomores, has had a patchy season; there have been both brilliant spots (a 5-4 win over Clarkson, a 3-0 shutout of Union, a 6-1 blowout of Rensselaer) and low points (getting shelled 7-1 by Boston University in the Beanpot, with six BU goals raining in during the third period). The icemen's biggest problem has been generating offense, especially on the power play.

The women's squad (5-13, 2-12 ECAC) has had to pay a price for its youth. Often outnumbered, the game Crimson icewomen have experienced problems in holding off opponents in the third period. They have been outscored about 2-to-1 in that stanza as other teams have been able to put more fresh lines on the ice. An exceptional game was a fine 4-3 victory over St. Lawrence, when sophomore forward Jen Gerometta notched her first hat trick, including the game-winner with just 12 seconds left on the clock.

NCAA REVIEW

Harvard has launched a year-and-a-half-long effort to study its intercollegiate athletics program, as mandated by the NCAA's new Division I athletics certification process; regular internal reviews by the University's Faculty Standing Committee on Athletic Sports have been ongoing for more than 20 years. Comments from the community (including alumni) on the University's athletic program are encouraged; direct them to the website at "https:// www.harvard.edu/ncaa_self_study". Open meetings on the subject, to which alumni are invited, will be held Monday, March 31, and Tuesday, April 29, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Emerson Hall 305.

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