Harvard's heavyweight crews face their most severe test of the collegiate rowing season in the Adams Cup competition at Annapolis Saturday. The Crimson oarsmen go against Pennsylvania and the Naval Academy.

Navy will pass the finish line far back of Harvard, but Penn just might throw a scare through the Crimson. Heavyweight coach Harry Parker think it's possible; he says the race will be "very, very difficult."

Last Monday, Pennsylvania's Joe Burk spoke to the weekly luncheon of crew coaches, and as much as told them his crew had the speed to beat Harvard this year. He said his oarsmen were "ten seconds faster than Vesper."

Burk made the assertion after comparing Penn's time against Yale and Columbia last Saturday with a time trial which Vesper made down the same course shortly thereafter.

Parker, however, tends to discount Burk's interpretation. He maintains it is impossible to compare times in a race with no opposition.

Close

But Burk, the grand old man of Eastern rowing, knows his business, and his prediction may be more than an effort to psych Harvard out. It could be close.

The Quakers are undefeated so far this year. Ahead of Yale: 10 seconds, or two and a half lengths. Over Princeton: nine seconds. (Harvard's victory margin: 13 seconds.)

Burk says his unique selection system for boat placement this season has worked "extremely well." Those who will row in the first shell are chosen by a point system based on how many races each oarsman has won during work-outs.

This means there are continuous shake-ups in the boatings during the season. Burk believes eight men rowing together for six weeks "become set in their patterns, and get to be too dependent" on other members of the boat.

There will be no changes from last week's varsity shell for Saturday's race, however.

One factor which increases the uncertainty on the Adams Cup outcome is the Severn River course at Annapolis. The Severn is notorious in the East for its rough, swelling water. As the Crimson discovered to its dismay in last year's opener against Northeastern, rough water can turn the most predictable race into a nightmare.

The race which attracts the most emotional attention is not the varsity contest, but the first freshman heavies.

During the last three years, this particular race has been viewed by oarsmen at each school as almost a holy war.

This year, Harvard labors under severe disadvantages.