'Cliffe Crew Captures National Championship

Eight Joins U.S. Rowing Team; 'Cliffies to Challenge Russians

By Peter A. Landry, July 2, 1973

Radcliffe will receive $1000 from the U.S. Women's Rowing Olympic Committee, and Baker expects that the crew will be able to raise $3000-$4000 from the parents of the nine rowers. But from there its touch and go. Baker said that he is not being allowed to conduct a mass mailing for funds, a tactic that was quite successful for the 'Cliffe crew program during the season.

Baker is planning a full summer of training and competition for Radcliffe in preparation for the European trip. He said that along with regular workouts on the Charles, the 'Cliffe plans to compete in the NAAO championships July 14 in Camden, N.J. The NAAOs are the men's championships, but Radcliffe will row against Vesper in the fours competition.

Then, the 'Cliffe plans to enter the Royal Canadian Henley at St. Catherine's, Ontario. The Royal Canadian Henley is sponsored by the CAAO, the equivalent of the NAAO in the United States.

The 'Cliffe will leave for Europe around August 1 and is planning what Baker calls "a full itinerary." On August 4-5 the Radcliffe squad will compete in a regatta at Hanover, West Germany. There will be no eights competition, so the 'Cliffe will race in fours.

Then Baker says he is trying to find a place in northeastern Germany where the squad can stay August 6-20 to train and "see the sights".

The invitation to the USSR starts August 20 and the 'Cliffe squad will fly to Moscow that day. The Europeans competition runs August 23-26. Radcliffe will return home August 27.

The 'Cliffe will be a definite underdog in the Europeans, because Radcliffe is a virtual novice when it comes to international competition, and with the exception of Crane, all the Radcliffe starters are first-year rowers. Furthermore, the 'Cliffe's 140-pound average is considerably under the 175-pound averages of the veteran Russian and East German squads.

"We're going to give it a royal try," Baker said last week. "Everyone will be expecting us to get our asses handed to us. There's really no pressure on us to do well, so anything we do will be just great."