The varsity crew puts on its final home performance at 5:30 p.m. this afternoon, in what should prove to be the best race so far this season. Navy, Penn, MIT, and Columbia will provide the opposition, and the Adams Cup will be at stake.
Harvard will win by about two lengths, if all the entries run true to their previous form. Penn should cross second, followed by MIT, Navy, and Columbia in that order.
Things could be different, of course, but a look at previous results marks the Crimson as a definite favorite. For instance, Harvard opened its season two weeks ago by beating Princeton easily; the Tigers turned around the following week to leave Penn four seconds behind.
Using the same yardstick, Rusty Callow's boys from the Schuylkill should hand the Middies a tidy defeat. The Red and Blue walloped Yale two weeks back, yet the Elis recovered to beat the Middies by almost three lengths the following Saturday.
Two Failures for Tech
MIT has had two cracks at Harvard already, and failed to come alarmingly close either time, although they did cut down the gap by several lengths in last week's race. As for Columbia, it has only managed to register two lasts in as many starts this year, falling victim to Princeton and Yale once and Penn twice.
If more proof of Harvard's theoretical superiority is needed, there is the factor that the home crew has a physical advantage, both from knowing its own waters and being spared the ordeal of a long journey.
Navy, for instance, has had only two practice outings this week, and is further hampered by the loss of its all-American stroke John Cartwhight, who is out for the season with a bad knee. Sophomore Jim Bacon will take his place today.
Penn and Columbia are also both short on practice for the week, leaving MIT as the only opponent entering the race well prepared.
Trial Results Secret
Rowing conditions have been close to ideal on the Charles all week, and Tom Bolles' Crimson has taken full advantage of the fact, as witnessed by the fact that Tuesday's time-trial resulted in such excellent time that the actual statistics have been kept a secret from all but the rowers themselves.
The jayvees look like a good bet in their preliminary race at 5 p.m., since they also are undefeated, while their victims have gone on to beat today's opposition.
Three new faces will be in the boat today, as the result of some experiments by Bolles in the earlier part of the week: Al Carter at seven, Bill Saltonstall at two, and Charlie Rimmer at bow will all be racing for the first time this year. This combination, by the way, defeated what is now the third varsity by more than two lengths in Tuesday's time-trial.
Bolles, of course, winces when confronted with the fact that his crew will be the odds-on favorite, and hastens to point out the fact that in a crew race anything can happen.
The starting times and lanes for today's races appear below. The finish line will be opposite the MIT boathouse, just below Cottage Farm (Boston University) Bridge. Lane 1 is nearest the Cambridge shore. All races will be broadcast by the Crimson Key.
Freshman race, 4:30 p.m.
Lane 1, Harvard
Lane 2, Navy
Lane 3, MIT
Lane 4, Columbia
Lane 5, Penn
Jayvee race, 5 p.m.
Lane 1, Columbia
Lane 2, Navy
Lane 3, Penn
Lane 4, MIT
Lane 5, Harvard
Varsity race, 5:30 p.m.
Lane 1, Navy
Lane 2, Penn
Lane 4, Harvard
Lane 3, Columbia
Lane 5, MIT
