Hold the Razor

TAPERING off, peaking, and shaving down are ingredients in the success of a swimming team. Tapering off is a reduction in the swimmer's workload. His training tapers off from a point of intense work and tiredness to a level where he does almost nothing. Having given his body a respite, the swimmer is healthier, stronger, and more rested than at any other time of the season. At this point, the swimmer has peaked. Shaving down is the removal of body hair, lik'e taking barnacles off a boat. "The swimmer gets a tremendously light feeling when he's in the water," explains Dartmouth swimming coach Ron Keenhold. "You get a super-sensitive feel for the water and it's psychologically uplifting. But it's something you can't do over the full season."

When to taper off, peak, and shave down is a team decision at Dartmouth. Late in January, the swimming team got together in the locker room on a Sunday night and debated for an hour and a half what the destiny of the team would be for the year. "Then we didn't even vote," says Keenhold, who has been head coach for nine of his 18 years at Dartmouth. "We gave them 24 hours to decide whether we shaved or didn't shave and agreed that if more than 20 per cent of team voted not to shave we wouldn't do it. The vote was overwhelming for no shave."

The vote means that Dartmouth will set its sights on the Eastern Championships rather than on success during the winter's dual meets. "They chose the tough way out," says Keenhold, who is facing his first losing season in 20 years of coaching. "By voting not to peak too early the fellows would be able to have peak performances at the Eastern Championships. You could have a heck of a dual meet record but your performance at the Easterns would be in doubt. We haven't thrown the dual meet season away, but at that time we needed to get our thoughts together to find our commitment as a group."

The 13-man varsity squad is the smallest Keenhold has had at Dartmouth. It features a blend of youth and experience. Top man on the team is Todd Taylor, a junior from Cincinnati, who took a first place in the 200-yard individual medley in the 1978 Eastern Seaboard meet. Taylor also holds the College record for the 200-yard freestyle. "He's the best all-around swimmer who has walked through the front door of Dartmouth College," says Keenhold. Only three seniors are on the team. They include Greg Dozer, the school's finest distance swimmer and holder of four individual Dartmouth records.