All three Harvard lightweight shells crossed the finish line at the Sprints Saturday with open water over their rivals.

The varsity's 6:08.3 time, just one-tenth second shy of a course record, left Cornell and Pennsylvania far behind, and capped a phenomenally successful collegiate season. The lightweights meet tomorrow afternoon at Newell Boathouse to decide whether to go to Henley.

But Harvard almost didn't make it to the varsity finals in the afternoon. In the morning qualifying heat, Fred Fisher, number four man in the Crimson shell, jumped his slide on the second stroke of the race, and then caught a crab. Coxswain Brian Sullivan stopped the boat, expecting the referee to start the race over. He didn't and Harvard finished last.

A dispute developed. In catching the crab, the number four rigger was bent, and Harvard claimed that under racing rules, its equipment had been broken, and thus the race should have been stopped.

Due largely to the forceful intervention of heavyweight coach Harry Parker, race officials decided to allow Harvard to enter the afternoon finals. But the decision brought bitter protest from Princeton's coach, and reports circulated that several schools would refuse to row if Harvard entered.

The Crimson varsity took its entire lead at the start of the afternoon race. By 400 meters, it was Harvard by more than a length.

A final sprint of 40 beats per minute by Cornell and Penn failed to move their boats closer to Harvard, which closed at 37, ahead by seven seats of open water.

An overconfident Pennsylvania junior varsity didn't have the speed to match Harvard once the race began. Both crews were off the stake boats at 41, and the Crimson jumped out by a deck length.

The gap kept widening. A half-length at 500 meters gone, a full length at 1,000. Harvard's time of 6:20.6 meant three seats of open water over Penn and Cornell.