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.

The Harvard freshmen are inexperienced. Only one man in the boat rowed before entering college, while Penn's freshman enjoy exactly the opposite situation. The Harvard crew is outweighed by 15 pounds per man, which can make a lot of difference.

Scrappy Lights

The Penn frosh last week defeated Yale by the cruel margin of four and a half lengths.

A more interesting comparison is the two crews' relative margins over Princeton. The Quakers triumphed by three seconds. Harvard's narrow victory against the Tigers last week was inconclusive because of mishaps in the Princeton boat.

Chances are that the Crimson freshmen will have a tough time keeping up with Penn's brute-boat. Weight might be the telling difference over the entire course.

But the Crimson freshmen are a tough and scrappy little crew. Their sheer aggressiveness broke Princeton last week, and more of the same may work against Penn Saturday.

Lightweights

Harvard's undefeated lightweight crew will have a chance to find out just how good it really is when it races 2000 meters for the coveted Goldthwait Cup against Princeton and Yale Saturday afternoon at Princeton.

"Princeton should provide our stiffest challenge to date," said coach Bo Andersen. "They lost by only one second to Cornell and were dead-even with them through the first 1200 meters. We have to beat Princeton decisively if we're going to have any chance against Cornell next week."

Cornell and Harvard, the traditional titans of eastern lightweight rowing, will have their only showdown of the season next Saturday at the Eastern Sprints in Worcester. Last year Cornell took the trophy, and Harvard finished fourth behind Penn and Princeton.

Andersen said he has "no idea how good Yale is," but he noted that last week they lost to M.I.T. Two weeks ago the Crimson left M.I.T. in its wake by three full lengths.

New Boat

After Harvard's 22-second triumph last week over Dartmouth and Navy, Andersen has decided to stick with the new Stampfli boat for the rest of the season. Early in the week he tried to race the Stampfli against the Pocock, but the results were inconclusive. The comparison showed, at least, that the new, shorter boat was no slower than the Pocock.

The boatings are also set for the rest of the season. The boat's line-up consist of captain Brian Sullivan, cox; Joe Bracewell, stroke; Bill Braun, 7; Rob Wolff, 6; Ken Miller, 5; Fred Fisher, 4; Jim Gerrity, 3; Joe McPherson, 2; and Chris Cutler, bow.

Harvard has captured the Goldthwait Cup for the last ten years in a row. Harvard has won it 22 times, while Princeton and Yale have claimed it ten and nine times respectively.