SWIMMING

The pressure was on Dartmouth's swimmers for two straight weeks and in both instances Ron Keenhold's kids were cool cats.

The Indians breezed by Williams and Wesley an before Christmas and then made ready for the closest thing to a peak performance that Keenhold would want to reach in early January.

On successive weekends Harvard and Navy visited Karl Michael Pool and Dartmouth was ready for both. The wins, 57-56 over Harvard and 66-47 over Navy, stamped the Green as a legitimate challenger for the 197-Eastern League crown.

Penn and Yale may have much to say about that but for the time being the feeling is that Dartmouth has a most capable gang of swimmers this winter

They were hardly at a peak but they were emotionally ready for Harvard. The meet really hinged on the opening medley relay and Jim Gottschalk, who wouldn't swim another race that day due a chest cold, gave Dartmouth the tad it never lost

It was a tailchase for Harvard after the Indians won the medley by a solid five seconds. The Crimson gradually closed ,he gap but Chris Carstensen was a narrow winner in the 100 freestyle and Jim Bayles won the 200 backstroke (filling in for Gottschalk).

Harvard was still a contender until the three-meter dive and then Fred Skillern, a junior, had his moment. He defeated teammate Bill Thorwarth for the first time and also topped Harvard's Dave Silver to give Dartmouth its clinching points.

It was a high moment tor the Indians, a performance that was just about as gratifying as the next weekend against Navy.

The Middies had edged Dartmouth last year at Annapolis, 62-51, taking the final relay to do it.

The Indians had some scores to settle against a team that has some outstanding manpower, particularly Eastern freestyle champ Rex Hand who unseated Carstensen from the 50 and 100 titles last year.

By the time they got to the one-meter dive, Dartmouth had cruised to a 34-9 lead. It was a stellar day for sophomore Brad Gilman who topped Hand in the 200 freestyle and then took the 500 free to hoot.

A year ago, Dartmouth labored through a flock of nuisance injuries and ills that devastated the squad and left Keenhold shaking his head.

In mid-January, though, it's 4-0 for the Green and things look like they could get much better.