The Crimson varsity heavyweight crew showed Saturday that it has the potential to be a formidable threat to any opponent.

Understroking its opposition all the way, the newly formed combination behind stroke Dana Whitten rowed to a surprisingly impressive victory over Brown and Syracuse on the Charles River Basin course.

The time for the cold and choppy mile and three-quarters course was 8:51.0, beating by a length, a scrappy Brown crew, which nipped the Orangemen by five-tenths of a second.

In another race, the junior varsity whipped Syracuse and Brown by almost two lengths, but earlier Harry Parker's freshman boat finished a length behind the Orange shell.

Two Strokes Lower

The varsity boat was clearly superior to its opponents, slowly pulling out on them throughout the race, although rowing about two strokes lower. Unexpectedly, it was an underrated Bruin crew which stayed closer to the Crimson shell. Syracuse trailed behind until a late sprint nearly brought it up to the tiring Bruins, who were rowing 39 for the last quarter mile.

With a boating that had little experience together the Crimson performed well. During their sprint at a 35 pace, as well as during the body of the race at 31-32, they were rowing together and getting a fair run under the boat.

The junior varsity race followed a similar pattern, with the Crimson slowly picking up a few seats during the first three-quarters of a mile and then moving out in the middle of the race to an incontestable margin while understroking the opposition.

Freshman Race

In the freshman race, the large but rather rough Crimson boat made a tight race of it for the first mile up to the bridge by rowing a slightly higher stroke than Syracuse. The oarsmen had rowed only three days together and can expect to improve considerably with more practice.

The Summary:

Varsity: Won by Harvard, 8:51; second, Syracuse, 9:09; third, Brown, 9:10.4.

Freshmen: Won by Syracuse, 8:57; second, Harvard, 9:01; third, Brown, no time taken. ..

The Broating:

Varsity: bow, L. Breckinridge; 2, J. Higginson: 3, S. Borden; 4, L. Timpson; 5, J. Hodges; 6, P. Boyden (capt.); 7, S. Huntington; stroke, D. Whitten; coxswain, J. Rosenstein.

Junior Varsity: bow, A. Hager; 2, A. Holcombe; 3, P. Olsson; 4, D. Robertson; 5, K. Gregg; 6, J. Maynard; 7, P. Sloan; stroke, W. Bancroft; coxswain, R. Franklin.

Freshmen: bow, S. Griest; 2, R. Keyes; 3, T. Kenny; 4, R. Blose; 5, W. Stephens; 6, R. Hopkins; 7, H. Pollock; stroke, R. Masland; coxswain, E. Washburn.