The Russians Were Coming

Dartmouth, as even swimming coach Ron Keenhold concedes, is "off the beaten track in the diving world." That state of affairs was to have been reversed for at least two days in early August with the first of a series of annual diving competitions between the United States and the Soviet Union at Karl Michael Pool. The College was chosen as the site of the meet because of Hanover's proximity to the Olympic Games in Montreal and through the offices of R. Jackson Smith '36, who is affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union.

Keenhold, the meet director, became more optimistic about the benefits of the competition for swimming and diving in northern New England when six of the divers coming to Hanover won Olympic medals, two of them gold. Then, about 24 hours before the Soviet divers were scheduled to arrive here, they departed Montreal for the Soviet Union, and the meet was abruptly canceled. The actions of the Russians were unexpected but not inexplicable. Less than a week earlier, a Soviet diver by the name of Sergei Nemtsanov had petitioned the Canadian government for political asylum. According to Smith, a Russian spokesman attributed the withdrawal to the "extreme distress" caused by Nemtsanov's defection.

The DCAC redeemed tickets purchased in anticipation of the event. Nemtsanov, the young Soviet diver, later changed his mind and repatriated to the Soviet Union, and meanwhile Hanover stays off the beaten track.

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