Who Will Be Strong?

It is difficult to tell exactly who will be strong in Mexico City during the October games. But Harvard Heavyweight Coach Harry Parker expects West Germany's Ratzeburg Boat Club, famous for its extremely high stroking cadence to be dangerous, along with last sumer's international champion from New Zealand. Parker also rated East Germany and Russia as very tough.

Harvard's 1968 Lightweight crew, which had caused some concern before the season started, showed its mettle after the racing began. The lights registered triumphs so stunning and spectacular as to almost defy description.

None of the five Crimson light-weight crews suffered defeat during the 1968 racing.

And more than this--no Harvard lightweight crew ever passed under the finish flag with less than an open-water margin of victory over its nearest rival.

Thus, the leightweight crew have turned in truly phenomenal performances since last spring.

Lightweight Coach Bo Andersen, who is retiring this year, said "As we drew into the racing season, I looked at the squad and thought we had the potential for a good boat." He added, "Some of the oarsmen have great capacity but not all eight of them, I thought."

Trounced M.I.T.

Andersen said he began to realize his crew was extremely strong two weeks into the season, after it trounced M.I.T. by three lengths. M.I.T. had been thought to be one of the strongest lightweight crews.

The varsity lightweights have scheduled extensive racing against international competition which will climax with their bid for the Thames Cup at the Royal Henley Regatta in England, July 13.

Harvard's lightweight varsity last won the Thames Cup at Henley in 1966.

For a while, there was talk of entering the lightweights in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley, normally reserved for heavyweight oarsmen. This plan assumed most heavyweight competition would be training for the Mexico City Game and would therefore skip the Henley Regatta.

But is was finally decided that to enter the Grand Challenge Cup would be a little bit too cheeky. So it will be the Thames.

The Lightweights also entered the American Henley Regatta at Philadelphia, June 8. Competition centered on the Penn Junior Varsity Heavyweights, which had been only two-tenths of a second back of their varsity in the three-boat race with Vesper. Cornell and Penn, the other two leightweight powerhouses in the East, also sent their varsities.

Royal Dutch Regatta