Swimming’s HYP is a reminder of what was
Imagine standing among hundreds — maybe even thousands — of fans, cheering on the Yale Bulldogs as they strive for a national championship. There’s not an unoccupied seat in sight, save for those emptied by fans standing up and cheering. The roaring of the crowd is deafening. Yale football versus Harvard at The Game?
Nope.
This was the scene that greeted Yale swimmers at every home meet from the 1930s up through the 1960s — a far cry from the expected atmosphere at this coming weekend’s Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet in Payne Whitney Gymnasium, which will likely be more...
Interesting swimming article. In one of the years of the early
50's there was so much talent on the freshman team that Harry Burke challenged Kiphuth's varsity to a meet -
and won! This was because the freshmen had stars like Jimmy
McClean (sp?), John Marshall (all the way from Australia) and Wayne Moore. Burke was a great coach, too!
I was on the varsity team of 1962 and we were challenged by the class of 1965 frosh who were packed with talent. The varsity won, by the smallest of margins. A highlight of the meet was the last relay with Mike Austin '64 against Steve Clark, freshman. They took off essentially even, and Austin edged Clark by a whisker. The place was full and the sound deafening. What a privilege it was to be a Yale swimmer then!
I vividly recall the large crowds at Yale swimming meets in the 40's and 50's, most of which were held on Wednesdy and Saturday afternoons. I was privileged to see Yale's Alan Ford set a world record in the 100 yard freestle and at the same time become the first to go the distance in under 50 seconds.
In addition to the dual meets, there were several NCAA and AAU national championship events held here, drawing capacity crowds and extensive media representation, including New York Times and Herald-Tribune staffers and national TV on ABC's Wide World of Sports. To enhance the TV pictures, a basement window was installed so the cameras could pick up underwater views of the divers, probably the first time that device was ever employed.
Many Yale swim meets were broadcast on WELI-Radio by Phil Buxbaum, Jr., the station's sportscaster who was also an AAU swimming official. He even went to Ann Arbor to broadcast a dual meet against Michigan, which along with Yale was at the top of college swimming. The teams met in consecutive years in a heralded home and home series.
Another feature at the exhibition pool was the so-called Yale Swimming Carnival. That annual event was the creation of coach Bob Kiphuth and Charley Loftus, Yale's original sports information director. The Carnival combined swmming and diving events with theatrical presentations such as synchronized swimming, water ballet and comedy diving, provied by organizatins outside of Yale, and employing dimmed houselights, spotlights, underwater illumination, and live music.
Yes, the exhibition pool was a lively and well attended venue for a long time, and it was gratifying to see today's column that brought back many memories to this observer.
--Joel Alderman, 1951