Harvard's lightweight crews outclassed Columbia and Rutgers Saturday afternoon on the Harlem River. The varsity, JV, third varsity, and two freshman boats all swept firsts in their first meet of the season.

The first varsity boat raced over the the 2000 meters in 6:24.8, three boat-lengths and 13 seconds ahead of second-place Columbia. The Lions covered the course in 6:37.7 and the Scarlet Knights finished in 6:49.4.

Starting out at 41 strokes per minute, the Crimson held a full three-length margin after 100 meters. Captain and cox Brian Sullivan settled them into a pace of 34 strokes per minute for the rest of the race, and they did not widen their margin thereafter.

In the last 500 meters, Columbia over-took Rutgers for second place. Both crews rowed at 34 strokes for most of the race.

Non-Cup Race

Coach Bo Anderson said yesterday he was generally pleased with the varsity's performance in their only non-cup race of the season. "We were a bit disappointed, however, that it was not a 'complete' race," he said. "We should have been pulling away more at the end."

Anderson noted that the varsity had beaten Columbia by the same margin, but over a shorter course due to tides, as a strong Princeton team had last week.

In the JV race, the Crimson finished in 6:11.9, well ahead of Rutgers at 6:23.9 and Columbia at 6:28.9.

Changing Tides

Because of the changing tides, the Harvard freshmen had the fastest times of the meet. Pulling away steadily after the 800-meter mark, they finished with a 5:49.3, ahead of Columbia and Rutgers.

Next Saturday the lightweight crews race Dartmouth and M.I.T. on the Charles for the Biglin Bowl.