Ted Washburn, whose rigorous training programs and disciplined coaching have turned out consistently winning freshmen crews for Harvard in the past four years, has a substantially lighter and less experienced squad to work with this spring.

The freshmen face major competition from Northeastern and Penn, and also from Princeton.

Northeastern appears to be in an especially strong position for today's race with Jim Dietz as the stroke. Dietz has achieved the reputation of rowing's newest wonder boy. He is the official world youth champion in single sculls, and won a gold medal for the United States in double sculls at the Pan-Am games in Winnepeg last summer.

The Northeastern freshmen have been working out regularly with their varsity this spring and have two races under their belt. The first race is always a psychological trial-by-fire for a freshman crew, and Harvard will be laboring under this disadvantage. But Washburn, who is unaccustomed to predicting victories against anyone, says "I think we'll beat them."

The boatings: cox, Tony Kane; stroke and captain, Bo Weisheit; Rod Petersen, 7; Bill Hobbs, 6; Roger Brooks, 5; Clark Gunness, 4; Brian Johnson, 3; Chuck Hewitt, 2; and Jim Ehrman, bow.

It is too early to assess Harvard's chances at the mid-July Olympics trials. In the East, Vesper is the crew to beat. Pennsylvania and Northeastern may also offer competition, depending on how well they fare against the Crimson during the season. Washington and California are the traditional powerhouses on the West Coast, and although it is too early to get a line on their development, they are reported to be weak this year.

All Harry Parker will say about going to Mexico City is this: "It is fairly clear that we have the potential to make a boat fast enough to go to the Trials and win them. But these oarsmen realize that a lot of different elements go into making a winning combination. It's not automatic. We're looking for that combination, and I think we have as good a chance as anyone else of finding it."

Major races this afternoon will begin around 4:00. Spectators gather at the finish line near the B.U. bridge. There is also a lightweight regatta: Harvard, M.I.T., and Dartmouth.