Sibling Harmony

SWIMMING at Dartmouth has become a family affair, and it frequently leaves coach Ron Keenhold scratching his head. "In my 20 years at Dartmouth, two brothers on the same team would be something. Having three sets of siblings on the team this winter is a very unusual circumstance," notes Keenhold. "When I do the final results I have to ask myself whether I have the right guy down."

First, there are the Chapmans. Billy Chapman is a sophomore diver. His brothers Tim and Jim, freshmen twins, compete in a multitude of events. (Not that it simplifies matters much, the three Chapman brothers and junior freestyler George Chapman are not related.) Then there are the Jones brothers. Eben, a junior, and Mark, a freshman, compete in the distance races. And finally, there is a brother-sister combination. Mike Kremer is a junior freestyler, and his sister Terry-Ann, a freshman, is one of the top swimmers for the women's team.

"They're all playing a vital role in the swimming program at Dartmouth in addition to being very fine people," says Keenhold. For example, Eben Jones held the 1,000-yard freshman freestyle record going into the season. Tim Chapman broke the 1,000-yard mark two weeks in a row. Jim Chapman set the 200-yard freshman backstroke record only to have it broken by brother Tim the following week. Mike Kremer was a member of the relay team that set a Dartmouth record for the 800yard freestyle. Terry-Ann Kremer already has established College marks for the 100yard and 200-yard breast-stroke events. "As you can see, they are an important part of our varsity team," says Keenhold.

The Chapman brothers are the sons of Wiiliam Chapman '49. They have been swimming competitively for years, advancing hrough the Y.M.C.A. and country-club leagues to Rippowam High School in Stamford, Connecticut, where they earned all-county and all-state honors. Their high-school swimming team won the state championship in 1979 and 1980. Twenty-year-old Billy and Tim and Jim, who are almost 19, are very close. "I like having my brothers here at Dartmouth," says Billy. "We've always been together on the same swimming team." They're also look-alikes, especially Tim and Jim who are identical twins. "You know the three of them belong in a group," observes Keenhold. "In fact, it's very hard to tell the twins apart. Their swimming styles differ a bit so when they're in the water I can tell them apart right off, but when they're apart from one another it's very confusing. Also, they wear different color suits during practice."

Tim's specialty is the backstroke, while Jim is better at the individual medley. They do compete against each other, however. "They're competitive individuals to begin with," says Keenhold, "but somehow they have co-existed competing against each other. They have supported and pushed the hell out of each other. They egg each other on with neither animosity nor jealousy. All I see is determination to push each other to do the best they can." Tim Chapman downplays the competition with his brother. "If Jim has a good swim, that makes me that much happier," says Tim. "We're both very bullheaded and we pep each other up. We help each other out a lot."

Through the first week of February, Keenhold's swimmers had a 2-3 record in the Eastern Intercollegiate Swim League. The record included a stunning 78-35 victory over Princeton at Karl Michael Pool. Senior Kent Whitaker set a school, pool, and meet record in the 200-yard breaststroke as Dartmouth swimmers took firsts in ten of the 11 individual events. It was the Big Green's first victory over Princeton since 1972. The hosts had three double winners. Senior Bill Sherman won the 50and 100-yard freestyle sprints; sophomore Mike Chaudoin won the one- and threemeter diving events; and Tim Chapman won the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 200yard backstroke.

"Princeton has been the highlight of the season at this point," concedes Keenhold. "Princeton had lost very few dual meets over the past ten years. They were missing a couple of their swimmers because of sickness, but our guys were sky-high and just wiped them right out. We just sat there and watched the score roll up in our favor."

The Chapmans at poolside (from left): twins Jim and Tim, big brother Bill.