Coaches' Corner ...
KARL MICHAEL: When the swimming team met early in October they were warned: despite the fact that the Big Green would be stronger than they had previously been, every other team in the Ivy League could count on the same thing, and that the EISL would prove to be a hot race. It proved to be just that.
To some, an 8 won, 4 lost record appears to be a satisfactory and rewarding season, but the swimmers, as well as their coach, know it could have been better.
Against Princeton, one week after Carnival, and the nadir of any swimming season, less than a yard in three: races and the matter of .13 points in the diving event cost us a possible win. With this loss, our usual fine morale suffered a drop.
The fact that we had injuries - we have them too - did little to help team spirit. Captain Charlie Brown had a pulled shoulder muscle that cost the team his services for the last three dual meets, Cleve Carney sprained an ankle early in the season and never did recover his junior year form, while backstroker John Benepe tore a knee cartilage and retired from competition right after the Carnival meet.
Outstanding performances were turned in consistently by Captain Brown. Winning every dual meet race except the two he lost to Harvard Olympic star Bruce Hunter in near record time, his season was distinguished by the fact that he erased two records held by the peerless John Glover. Swimming the 220 freestyle for the first and only time since his freshman year, he nipped the old record of 2:08.4 by one tenth of a second, while against Princeton he broke a long-standing 50-yard record: of 22.7 by two-tenths of a second.
In addition to Brown, Terry Bentley was the workhorse of the team, often swimming three tough races in the meet where he was needed most. Swimming against the best the opposition had to offer, he won fifteen races, finished second in only five, and established new records for the 200-yard individual medley, the 200-yard butterfly and the 200-yard breaststroke.
Graduating seniors always leave a void, and this year the void is huge. Eleven fine seniors leave the team. In addition to sprinters Charlie Brown, Cleve Carney and Whitey Dunphy, distance men Al Hale, Tim Grumbacher, Dave Cook and Max Ramenofsky, the team will lose backstroker John Benepe, breaststroker Scott Piper, diver Glenn Gemelli, and butterflyer Don Baker.
"Coaches Corner" would not be complete if mention were not made of the 1964 freshman team. Enjoying an undefeated team for the first time in four years, they also set three all-time College records. John Boynton accounted for a new freshman or varsity record almost every time he entered the water. Other records were set by Hank Marshall at 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, and in each case an all-time College record. Bill Lewis established new records at all distances in backstroke. Sandy Shapiro cracked a 50-yard freestyle record that had existed since 1938.
BILL CRAVER: Potentially the 1961 wrestling squad was the finest we have had in my three years at Dartmouth. However, freak injuries, illness and scholastic difficulty hurt our team more than our opponents did. We had some of our top boys wrestle from time to time but they were never all together - not even the majority of them. - for a single meet. The result was an anemic 2-6' record.
Also, the schedule was the strongest we have faced. Included were Wilkes College, the Middle Atlantic champions for five consecutive years; Springfield, the New England champions for eleven consecutive years; and teams from Wesleyan and Amherst which posted their finest records in years. Our team showed improvement with each meet. This was illustrated by the fact that our wrestlers gained New England Tournament victories over foes who had previously defeated them in dual meets.
Captain Roy (Hop) Holmberg, 147-pounder, is probably one of the finest wrestlers at Dartmouth in many years. Yet a torn rib cartilage sidelined him until the final three meets. Andy Alland, 123-pound sophomore, came up with a 6-2 record and a third place in the New Englands. Sophomore Steve Heiser (137) and junior Pete Brink (130) won fourth-place medals in their New England divisions.
Prospects for next year also include junior Ellie Torbert (123), N.E. runner-up in 1960, and sophomore letter-winners Lee Bateman (177), Jeff White (heavy), Dick Kiphart (157) and Tell Schreiber (167). Along with members of Dartmouth's best freshman team in some time, this nucleus should provide good wrestling next season.
