Swimmers Fight In Strong Competition As the 1981·82 season rolled around, the Harding Water Buffaloes had high expectations of improving their status in the conference from the second place they achieved in 1980·81. This was due largely to the number of swimmers who still had eligibility left after the 1980·81 season. But the chips fell on the other side as injuries plus an unusually strong conference contingent stymied the Har· ding cause and brought about a fifth place finish among the six teams that competed in the AIC championship meet at the conclusion of the season. The year began several months before the first meet, as the swimmers and divers reported immediately after school started. The outlook was good for the season to come and the men who made up the team were dedicated enough to the cause to do everything that they could in order to reach their desired goal of the AIC Championship. "We've got a good group of men this year," coach Jack Boustead said before the first meet. "They've been working since August 31 and I think they are in the best shape ever going into the season. " The first six weeks of school were spent on weights before the team did any swimming. After the weight sessions came to a conclusion, the swimmers came in three mornings a week, in addition to swimming at least two hours every afternoon. "All of the guys are unified in the purpose," Boustead said of their dedication. As the season began, it became obvious that depth would be a problem as only eleven swimmers ended up making the team. That meant that several people would end up doubling in different races. The lack of bodies took immediate action against the Buffaloes as Henderson State, the eventual conference champions, bombed the Black and Gold, 83·30, at Arkadelphia. The Water Buffaloes evened its record, however, with a fine showing against Southern Arkansas University in a dual meet at home. The men from Magnolia fell, 63·49, and Harding's record stood at 1·1. A win and a loss in the same meet came next as Harding went against Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas State in a triangular meet at OBU. The Buffaloes drowned ASU, 91·5, but the Tigers of Ouachita gave it right back as they prevailed, 74·39. After the Black and Gold finished fifth in an eight man field at the Hendrix Relays in Conway, the Water Buffaloes took advantage of Arkansas Tech and devasted the Wonder Boys, 84·16, of Russellville. That moved the dual and triangular meet record to 3·2 and the Buffaloes were starting to look rather impressive coming into the stretch part of the season. Hosting a dual against Ouachita. the Buffaloes almost pulled off an upset as they fell by the slim margin of 54·50. Harding captured six of thirteen events J. SWIMMING AND DIVING TEAM. Front row; Clark, Golden, Baughn, Andersen, Strother, Froehlich, Boustead·Coach, Carroll·Grad. Asst. Back row: Jones, Savage, Waites, Dodgin, C. Bouslead, Ford, Gurganus, Massey. 2. HARDING diver Mike Gurganus reaches his peak and tucks his legs on his trip down to the waLer. 3. TAKING a break during the Harding-Hendrix dual meet, swimmers Mat· thew Ford, Jody Vee, and Frank Clark relax on the side line. 1982 Ale SWIM MEET RESULTS Henderson State University 442 Hendrix College 407 Ouachita Baptist University 306 Southern Arkansas University 226 HARDING UNIVERSITY 128 Arkansas Tech University 68 296· Swimming and Diving in the meet to almost edge over the Tigers. The biggest win of the regular season came the last meet before the AIC Championships. Hosting Hendrix in a dual meet, the Water Buffaloes over· came the Warriors, 62·47, thus taking their first win over Hendrix in many years. Great performances by freshman Ben Andersen and junior captain Ben Waites paced the Harding victory. Finally, the AIC championships arriv· ed and the team felt that a third place finish was possible, especially with the win over Hendrix the weekend before. What they didn't count on. however, was the fact that Hendrix left some men behind in the dual meet plus the fact that each man could enter six events in the championships instead of the three that one could enter in a dual meet. That was the killing ingredient that dropped the Buffaloes down the ladder. Henderson won the meet as expected, with Hendrix placing second, Ouachita third, SAU fourth, Harding fifth and Arkansas Tech sixth. The meet wasn't a complete loss as five school records were established. Waite.s broke four, which included the 1650·yard freestyle, the 1000·yard freestyle, the 500·yard freestyle and the 200·yard freestyle. The 400·yard freestyle relay, consisting of Waites, Andersen, Tom Strother and Matt Ford also set a record . Senior co· captain Steve Froehlich placed high in the meet in both the 100·yard and 200'yard breaststrokes. "The competition was stiffer this year than in years past," Boustead said of the championship meet. "The one thing that killed us was the lack of depth." ~
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