A twenty-one-year old silver cup will be given to the Crimson crew or one of three eastern shells after they meet this afternoon on placid Lake Carnegie at Princeton. The race is the first of four regattas on the road for the varsity.

The Compton Cup, now in the halls of Nassau, is the prize Harvard, Princeton, M.I.T., and Rutgers will be seeking in the 18th renewal of a regatta dating from 1933. The Cup, given by Dr. Karl T. Compton, former president of M.I.T., has been won six times by Princeton, eleven by Harvard.

The varsity race begins at 4:30 p.m. and will be run on the calm waters of Lake Carnegie, an artificial lake approximately a mile and three quarters long which was constructed with a donation of Andrew Carnegie.

Half an hour earlier the jayvee crews from these four colleges will battle over the same course.

On the basis of Princeton's two defeats by Navy and Penn-currently the reigning crew powers of the East-and the Crimson varsity's three length win over M.I.T. last Saturday. Harvey Love's eight is picked to lead the boats at the finish.

Heavy Crew

The Tiger crew is a big boat, averaging over 185 pounds and stroked by a 195 pound, six foot 4 inch sophomore named John Detzens. He is one of three sophomores who will row with one junior and four seniors. Princeton coach Dutch Schoch has made no changes in his lineup since the opening Navy race and plans none for this afternoon's regatta.

Little is known about the Rutgers shell except that it lost to Columbia by a length and a half two weeks age.

The Crimson shell will contain the same heavy crew which beat M.I.T. on the Charles. Rough water prevented time trials this week, but regular workouts have gone well and Love expects his eight to be up for the race.

View of the Future

The regatta may prove a key one in evaluating the varsity's chances against Navy and Penn in next Saturday's race in Philadelphia for the Adams Cup. Neither Penn nor Navy has been seriously challenged so far this season. The number of lengths between the Orange and Black's and the Crimson's boats will give Coach Love some sign of the difference between his crew and those of Navy and Penn.

While the varsity and J.V. shells go south, the third varsity and second freshman crews race this afternoon against Brown and LaSalle at Providence. The varsity third boat, stroked by George Walcott and manned by five former freshman oarsmen, meets Brown for the first time in recent rowing history.