1948 Swim Team In 1948, one team broke five records and had a 7–2 season. The varsity swim team, led by coach Roscoe Dake, lost only to Dartmouth and Yale and defeated Exeter 48–19. On March 13, 1948, the team won the first New England Interscholastic Meet at Amherst College by one point, with all nine members contributing to that score. Team members Henry Beatty ’49, Robert Brace ’48, Robert Brawner ’48, James Carroll ’48, Buckey Clemson ’49, Robert Denney ’48, John Geyman ’48, Austin Graff ’48, James McLane ’49, J.C. Miller ’50, Chris Pinkham ’48 (manager), Frank Rutan ’48, Alan Schwartz ’48, Edward G. Smith ’49, Richard Thoman ’49, John Thompson ’50, John Turner ’48, and Chris Weeks ’48 were all outstanding. Said team captain James Carroll: “In retrospect, this was a very unusual group of boys. If you think about us going off and winning the inaugural interschols championship with everyone contributing a point, it says something very special about this team. None of us understood what we had at that time.” Following Andover, many members of the team pursued swimming in college. Brawner, Carroll, McLane, and Thoman were members of the All-America Collegiate Swimming team in various years from 1950 to 1953. Brawner, McLane, Thoman, and Turner set records at their universities. Brawner, McLane, Carroll, and Thoman were NCAA and AAU swimming champions a total of 47 times. Brawner, McLane, and Thoman also toured Japan in 1950 as part of the USA All-Star Team. Most notable was McLane’s participation in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. At the London games in 1948, between his upper and senior years at PA, he won two gold medals. In 1952, he served as the captain of the USA Swimming Team and won another gold medal.
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