WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16--Twenty feet more and the Crimson varsity crew would be the best in the East. Four feet more and the Crimson freshman crew would be the best in the East. As it is, they are both the second-best, with the Harvard jayvee boat the third-best, as a result of the Eighth Annual Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Regatta held today on the Potomac.

Navy, heavily favored Olympic champions, stretched its win streak to 19 this afternoon when it just edged the Crimson by a third of a length over the 2000-metre course in the finals of the "Eastern Sprints" varsity competition. With fifth seeded Harvard coming up fast at the finish, the Middies crossed the line rowing a. 41, and turned his 6:07.4 time. The Crimson's time was 6:08.6. Wisconsin and Cornell were third and fourth, respectively, in 6:12.7 and 6:12.8.

Before an estimated 10,000 people in the stands along the bank of Hains Point and in the numerous yachts anchored in the Potomac, and beneath a sky filled with planes taking part in the Armed Services Air Show, the Crimson almost pulled the upset of the year. After saving its strength by leafing through the morning qualifying heat to finish second behind Navy, the varsity used all its power in the last minutes of the finals.

Poor Crimson Start

In smooth water and hot windless conditions, the Crimson got off to a poor start, and was fifth when the stroke settled. Navy stroked at a 48 (compared to Harvard's 42) at the start, but was only in third position, behind Penn and Cornell.

Then both crews went out on the field. The Middies dropped to a 34 and took the lead, while the varsity settled at a 32 and moved into second, with Cornell third, during the body of the race. It looked an if Navy would win again with no trouble, but Crimson stroke Larry Brownell upped the beat to a 34 with four minutes gone, and Harvey Love's eight hung on the Middles' stern, a little more than a half length behind.

With a minue still to go, the Crimson was rowing at a 37, and gaining on Navy, which had also raised its stroke in order to maintain its lead.

Stroke Upped

In the final sprint the varsity continued to close, upping its stroke to a 38, 39, and finally a 41, while Navy matched the Crimson's beat, and though losing ground to Harvard, crossed the line still 20 feet ahead.

Wisconsin and Cornell were neck and neck in the sprint, but the Badgers just overtook the Big Red to finish third. Columbia and Penn were fifth and sixth.

So, although the Middies received the Rowe Cup from Secretary of the Navy Robert Anderson on his yacht, the Sequoia, the Crimson varsity, with four men who had been in the boat for only ten days, received the most favorable notice. Harvard finished second in the Rowe Cup points with 12, (Navy had 18), on the strength of its two seconds and a third. Cornell was third with 11 points.

Yardlings Behind

In the freshman race, the Crimson finished three-tenths of a second behind the Cornell boat, which did 6:20.5. Princeton was a length and a half back in third. Navy had been eliminated in the morning heats.

The Yardlings and the Big Red had traded the lead for most of the race, but in the last sprint, Cornell, a big crew for a freshman eight, overtook Coach Bill Leavitt's shell. In this race, the most exciting of the day, the Crimson also surprised the experts, as it had been seeded only third.

In the junior varsity race, the Crimson shell crossed the finish line in 6:26.0, two and a half lengths behind Navy's winning eight, and a little less than a length behind the Cornell junior varsity. In this race Love's crew never threatened, and Columbia was only a half length behind it, in fourth