Eastern are coming soon

With the Crimson locked into second place in the EISL, and the Quakers virtually assured of a sixth-place finish, the outcome of tomorrow's season-ending Penn-Harvard men's swim meet in Cambridge, Mass., won't have any effect on the final league standings. Why then are both teams stressing the importance of the meet? And why will nearly half of the competing swimmers be tapered and shaved? "The Eastern championships are coming up in two weeks," said Penn assistant coach Mike Schnur, whose squad enters the meet 4-5, 3-5 in the EISL. "For the 17 guys going to Easterns, this is their tune-up, their last rehearsal." Harvard assistant coach Dave Flocco expressed similar sentiments. "This is our last opportunity to race before the Easterns," Flocco said. "We want to race well and race smart. We've got to get up and go." The Crimson (9-2, 7-1 EISL), two-time defending Eastern champions and ranked No. 18 in the nation, haven't had much trouble getting up or going this season. Harvard boasts three prospective NCAA qualifiers, including senior captain Richard Ou (breaststroke), junior Tim Carver (backstroke) and freshman Dave Schwartz (breaststroke). Junior Dave Heilman should also challenge Penn senior co-captain Rob Morris in the freestyle sprints. "Harvard is very, very good," Schnur said. "Our focus tomorrow isn't on winning and losing. We're focusing more on rehearsing the right things. Harvard's also coming off a big meet with Princeton for which a lot of their guys shaved, so they'll be ready for us tomorrow. We expect to be competitive, but for guys like Geoff Munger, Marc Gomberg, Ken Fletcher and Jeff Brown, tomorrow will be a good tune-up." "Harvard is in contention to win the Easterns," Penn coach Kathy Lawlor-Gilbert said. "We're in contention to do well at Easterns. That's the difference. We're just not as deep as they are." Since the Eastern rosters are limited to 17 swimmers, both Penn and Harvard will also taper and shave those team members who won't be making the trip to Easterns. "For 11 of our guys, tomorrow's meet is the focus of the season," Schnur said. And for the 17 other Penn swimmers, the Crimson will provide a preview of the top-level competition the Quakers will face in two weeks. That's something.