It was closer than anyone thought it would be, except perhaps the Harvard second boat and Wisconsin's J.V. But in the end the Crimson did what it was supposed to do, downing the Badgers and taking the heavyweight grand finals at the Eastern Sprints.

Wisconsin had the better time in the morning heat by four seconds, and even though the two heats were half an hour apart, and even though conditions can and do change dramatically in that amount of time, the Crimson crew was properly scared.

You could see it in their faces as the afternoon wore on. No one spoke much and wishes of good luck got only a "thanks. I think we'll need it," in reply.

It wasn't luck but talent that won the race in the end, however, as the Crimson pulled away from Wisconsin in the early going and refused to allow the Badgers a chance to move.

Time and again Wisconsin would try to edge up on the Crimson and Harvard would hold on to the lead, keeping a steady half-length margin. Both crews had pulled away from the rest of the field by considerable margins at the 1500-meter mark, finally finishing nearly two lengths of open water in front of the next boat.

The second boat's victory celebration was delayed until the varsity race was over and Harvard the victor. Then Harry Parker called his J.V. and freshman crews down to the dock to help his first crew celebrate.

The frosh had fallen victim to Cornell earlier in the day in perhaps the most exciting race. Harvard fell behind in the first 500 meters, dropping to nearly three-quarters of a length back at 1500 meters.

In the last 500 meters the race belonged to the Crimson. They pulled up on Cornell steadily, picking up what looked like one-half a seat at a stroke in the last 100 meters, threatening to take it from the Big Red at the last moment.

Cornell held on to win by a bare second in the end, only the last ten strokes holding off Harvard. Another 100 meters and the race would have had a different ending.

There were no more meters, however, and the frosh had to stand around while their teammates flung each other off the dock. They could only savor the moment half-heartedly, thinking about next year.