TUESDAY, APRIL17, 1934 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
PLAY &
BY- PLAY
-By AL NEWMAN-
Michigan vs. N.Y.A.C.
FOLLOWING the usual stomach-
curdling stop of a New York ele-
vator arrested in full upward flight,
the door swung open. There was a
sound of muffled cheering. The meet
had already begun, and you could feel
the warm dampness of the New York
Athletic Club pool just around the
corner.
There was a gentleman selling seats
at $1.10 per throw . . . "Standing
room only, and you're lucky to get
that!" The fame of the 1934 Michigan
swimming team had preceded it even
in the blase city that cares little for
reputations and records because so
many have been broken and made
there.
The stands were packed, but one
of the be-flannelled, undershirted
ushers escorted us to rumored seats,
which was about all they were. And
there were Matt Mann's trained seals
looking strangely out of place in such
surroundings.
The meet see-sawed back and forth.
There were impressive victories by
Taylor Drysdale in the backstroke,
and Jim Cristy in the 440. In fact
Cristy had nearly a length of the 25-
yard pool on the field.
BUT THEN THERE were Athleti
Club victories in the breast-stroke
and the free-style sprints that didn't
do Michigan's standing any good.
Notre Dame is said to have quite a
number of synthetic alumni; that i.;
the kind of alumni who never went to
Notre Dame but who just come oit1
and cheer their heads off at a foot-
ball game for their chosen alma
mater.
But Michigan also has plenty of
synthetic alumni, and those together
with the real ones made the welki
ring with cheers for Michigan while
the A.C. drew scant applause.
A diving exhibition by two Michigan
freshmen, Johnston and Grady.
stopped the show. The pair put on
what they called a "double diving"
exhibition from the high board. Walk-
ing out to the end of the board side
by side, they took off simultaneously
in a series of beautifully-timed flips
and twists, which, according to the
bald man in the brown suit who did
the announcing, were dives only "re-
hoised" that very afternoon.
THERE was also solo diving, by the
regular team of three. Degener
again stopped the show with a bril-
liant exhibition . . . and the other
lads did pretty well, too, considering
the competition they had in the con-
trast with Degener.
Final event of the meet was the
medley relay comprised of 100 yards
of each of the three swimming strokes.
The score was tied, and excitement
ran high.
Just to prolong the suspense, there
was the first half of a water-polo
game between N.Y.A.C. and Columbia
sandwiched in. It was a tough game
. .not the water-polo that's played
in these parts but a game where the
ball had to be touched against the
goal, not thrown, by the scorer. The
two teams looked like football teams
for the most horrible strangling and
ducking exhibitions were counten-
anced without malice on either side.
Then came the final event .
the Spence brothers against Drysdale,
Lawrence, and Renner.
Drysdale started out by handing
Michigan a fairly substantial lead,
but Leonard Spence, the breast-stroke
artist, put the opposition well in
front, and the great Walter Spence
augmented it. Not that it was a walk-
away, but the Spences were just too
fast.
So N.Y.A.C. won the meet, but it
was a grand exhibition, and maybe
some day . . . but it's too much to
ask of a university team. Anyway, the
Mann men came close.
Norm Daniels Will Be
Jack Blott's Assistant
Norm Daniels, former Michigan
star who has been coaching at
Hillsdale High School since his
graduation in 1932, will go to Wes-
leyan College (Conn.) as assistant
to Coach Jack Blott, it was an-
nounced last week.
Daniels was a nine letter man
while at Michigan, starring in
football and baseball. He will be
succeeded at Hillsdale by Omer La-
jeunesse, guard on the Wolverine
football team in 1929, 1930, and
1931. Lajeunesse has assisted Dan-
iels at Hillsdale since 1932, taking
charge that fall until Daniels re-
turned from a Michigan baseball
trip to the Orient.
Cap & Gown
Orders
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