This was Cap'n Hauck's idea of automation. But by and by it was all over and the big day arrived. The Cap'n told me that I was not ready for a meet yet and, as I resigned myself to watch and wait, he handed me a pile of red and green T-shirts with "Patton Christmas Meet" printed thereon, telling me to sell them. For hours after that people shunned me like the plague, until at long last a mother came up to me with her little boy. She asked for a T- shirt, and I had to tell her I didn't think I had her size. She explained that it was for the little boy so we made a deal. I felt sorry for him for I noticed now that people shun him like the plague.. .but that's human nature, I guess, and I wouldn't trade the twenty-seven left-over T-shirts that the Cap'n made me buy for all the luck in Ireland, even though they don't fit....

Surf: this is the second in the series, "Portraits from the Past." The subject this month--

Somewhere in the deep, dark depths of the red equipment box at Patton lies a fragment of a kickboard with "Tokyo 1964" written on it. Above that is the single name "Lee." The kickboard belonged, of course, to Lee Davis at the time that she swam for Patton, and of the many hopeful phrases that have been jotted on kickboards, hers appears to be the most likely to come true: "Tokyo 1964." In time, that fragment of a kickboard may disappear, as well as the remainder of Lee's state records. But the influence of this modest girl will remain, because she is more than a set of swimming statistics. Her name has become synonymous with hard work, dedication and sincerity. Her's was and is the type of spirit around which you can build a team. Just to echo a few of her recent achievements: Lee's times are among the top 20 in the world in 3 individual events, and among the top 25 in the country in 4 individual long course events. She was fourth in the 1500 at the women's nat'ls. At a meet not long ago, she had a 1:03.5 100 fly, 2:08.3 200 free, and 5:45.0 500 free. A complete list of her times reads like a record book, so I'll leave it to the interested to look them up. It's often the enjoyable fate of swimmers of this caliber to do a great deal of traveling in other countries. Let's wish the same good fortune to our "ex post facto" champion, who will always have a home in the hearts and minds of her Patton teammates. To us, who have seen many types of swimmers in the pool--many kinds of fish in the aquarium--Lee will remain the Starfish....

Spray: Variety is the spice of life. It is, therefore, with pleasure that Foam-Fare offers you a little change in its menu. Usually you are faced with the task of reading 3 1/2 pages of my writing plus 1/2 page of Hauck's writing (The Bridge). Well, this month you only have to read 1 1/2 pages of me and 1/2 a page of Hauck, because the next one of the "Patton parents." Mrs. Johnson has accepted the difficult and thankless task of saying something that has gone unsaid far too long.... Mrs. Johnson:

"Try as I may, I'm finding this is a very difficult article to write and yet I sincerely feel that someone should be saying something and since I'm temporarily out of contact with most of you, writing seems to be the best method of communication.