- SWIMMING AND DIVING Season Ends on Up-Beat Splash For the 1982-83 Harding swimmers and divers, the season was long and hard, but in the end successful. Problems plagued the team midway through the year. As several members exited from the squad for various reasons, the quality remained, and the swimmers per·formed in a way that even surprised themselves. The season began earlier than one would expect as practice opened on the first day of fall classes. Under the tutorage of coach Jack Boustead, the Waterbuffaloes hit the water twice daily in preparing for the season that lasted from late February to early March. Boustead was optimistic about the upcoming season. " This year we may have more actual competitive experience since I've been here, and yet the majority of the team are freshman, " Boustead said. "This was our finest recruiting year and we think we're capable of being one of the top teams in the conference." Led by senior captain Ben Waites of Atlan~ ta, Ca., the Buffaloes took on their first opponent in the Ouachita Baptist University Tiger Sharks. Always a tough competitor, OBU edg~ ed out Harding, 59-54, but the score was closer than many early predictions would have given. Ouachita was one of the three teams selected to vie for the conference crown, and the Buffaloes had battled well. A sound victory over Southern Arkansas University evened the Harding dual meet record to 1-1. Winning 64-47, the Waterbuf~ faloes depended on the strength of six event wins to take the meet. But the thrill of victory lasted only m9mentarily as Henderson State University fed the Waterbuffaloes a dose of agony of defeat. The Reddies, defending Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference champions and unanimous choice to win again, out'scored the young Harding swimmers, 73-38, at the Harding pool. The Buffaloes collected victories from sprinter Richard Denney and middle distance man Chris Boutcher along with nine second place finishes. 140/Swimming and Diving TheIn ' tragedy, · in sense, struck the team. With an original 'n~mber of 14 competing, the squad lost four key members due to quitting or the release by the coach. All were point collectors in every meet, but Boustead still kept his optimistic attitude through the ordeal. "I felt that we have the quality men still out, the ones who want to work and want to win," he said. "I would rather have a small number of dedicated swimmers as to have a large team and have a few who didn't want to win. Those kind of people bring the team down." An unusual situation arose as the first home meet of the spring semester came around. Planning to host Arkansas Tech University, a snow storm prevented the Wonder Boys from making the trip from Russelville to Searcy. But that didn't keep the meet from happening, as each school swam in their own pool, and reported each result over the phone. The result was a 65-26 Harding victory. Ten first places burned the phone lines from the Harding pool to pace the victory. The first triangular meet took the Buffaloes to OBU to face the Tiger Sharks and Austin College. Both schools finished strong and posted wins, OBU 69-42 and Austin College 65-39. The meet served as a good warm- - John I. RMiclilfe
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