By defeating Princeton impressively by two lengths without a sprint on Lake Carnegie Saturday afternoon, the varsity crew not only regained possession of the Compton Cup, but also proved itself to be one of the East's foremost contenders for an Olympic berth. Harvey Love's eight covered the mile and three-quarter course in 9:05.8, 13 seconds off the 1950 Compton Cup record set by Harvard. The Tigers had a 9:13.4 time, while Tech and Rutgers, the other two contestants, finished well behind in 9:24.6, and 9:55.6, respectively.

Love's Jayvees had no such luck, however. With the Crimson leading by over a length only forty strokes from the end of the race, the oarlock on number two's rigger broke, and the oar came out. Two-man Swede Sundqvist missed one stroke, then threw the loose oar out of the boat, and followed it by diving out himself, the crew finishing with only seven rowers. Princeton sprinted when the Tiger coxswain saw the accident, closed the gap, and passed the Crimson, winning by half a length.

The winning Jayvee time was 9:26.6, with the Crimson finishing in 9:29. M.I.T. was seven lengths behind with a 10:00.6 time, while Rutgers was clocked in 10:34.4. Sundqvist was picked up by the officials' launch after his dunking. Though there was some question as to whether Harvard's boat ought to be disqualified for not having its full complement, the referee ruled otherwise.

The Crimson varsity, rowing over placid waters into a slight headwind, was never threatened. After a 15-stroke racing start, stroke Lou McCagg settled to a 32, and held the beat between 31 and 32 1/2 for the rest of the race. Harvard led by half mile, length at the half mile, a litle over a length at the mile, and despite the Tigers' sprint, pulled out at the end. Princeton rowed the body of the race at 33 or 34, ending with a full sprint at 38.

Saturday's win was the 12th Compton Cup triumph for Harvard crews in 13 races. Princeton won the Cup last season on the Charles. Olympic contenders Navy and Penn, next week's Crimson opponents, have also beaten Princeton, but neither of them as decisively as Harvard. Navy's two-length win over the Tigers was with a full sprint last weekend, while Harvard needed no sprint to win by the same margin. Navy, however, turned in an astonishing 8:27 time over a mile and three-quarters downstream course in beating Wisconsin on the Severn River the weekend. The record for the Charles River course is 8:48. The Crimson beat M.I.T. in last week's opener.