As the active part of the crew season approaches, there are several developments in the national crew setup that will change the face of the season. Among other things, the Princeton crew has been entered in the Poughkeepsie regatta this year, and a possible East-West race has almost reached the stage of planning.

Season after season when the oars are up on their racks for the summer, there is always a great deal of Bar Harbor quarterbacking during the summer months about two holds the crew supremacy of the nation. The predominant crews of the East and the West separately can almost always be doped out, but there is really nothing definite upon which an East-West supremacy can be decided, as long as either Yale or Harvard do not enter the Poughkeepsie race.

Olympic Chance Spoiled

It was a great hope all last year that the Olympic trials would give the country a chance to discover the nation's best crew, but with the war the Olympics became less and less a probability until they became absolutely impossible, and the hopes were dashed down. Now the only way to solve the problem seems to be to have an East-West race.

As yet Coach Tom Bolles, a member of the committee on the East-West race, does not know whether it will be possible. It seems that the question still hangs upon the matter of whether the body at Washington University which decides such things will be able to vote the crew enough money to send it East.

If the East-West race comes through there are several entering crews that must be considered. California, for Instance, has a complete crew coming back this year, and the strong men from Washington, in spite of their showing last year, will be far from out of the picture.

Top Eastern Crews

But that is only in the West. In the East there are three particularly prominent crews that would have a good chance in a national race. Yale has its whole crew returning this season, and by the end of last season the Elis were really improving a great deal. The other crews, Navy and Cornell, have already established themselves as crews to beat just by their showing in competition last year.

A crew that might turn out to be the dark horse of the season is Princeton. Although it did not do well last year, and was hurt considerably by graduation it did have a good Freshman crew from the point of view of material, which should help to fill out the eight for this year. Also, the Tigers have been entered in the Poughkeepsie regatta which should play a large part in improving them, but it may be a matter of years before the effects are noticed.

To turn the spotlight upon the Charles for a while, there has been a hitch in the Bolles schedule this week owing to Walt Kernan's coming down with a cold that may keep him from workouts for a while. In his place today was Ironman Behn Riggs, who took a year off from crew last year to build up his studies a little. Riggs was one of the best oarsmen in the 1941 Yardling eight and is really good Varsity material.

A new man on the Varsity roster this year is Ted Lyman, stellar Sophomore blocking back last fall. He seems to have nailed for himself the number six position on the second boat. This marks the first time in several years that a Varsity football player has also been on the Varsity crew.