The Eastern Sprints, the alpha and omega of the rowing season, is upon us, and while most everyone will agree that coming in first is the only thing that counts. God bless Vince Lombardi, each individual oarsmen does have a special attitude toward the Granddaddy of them all.
Best in the East
Harvard's two varsity boats, which will be vying to retain their best-in-the-East honors after last year's varsity sweep out at Worcester, have as many feelings toward the Sprints as there are oarsmen to articulate them.
There are a lot of practical aspects to the Sprints that each rower is acutely aware of not least of which is the addition of some 15 varieties of crew shirts awarded in the winner-take-all event.
For lightweight oarsmen such as Gil Welch the Sprints are not the end of a season of rowing as much as the beginning of a summertime of eating. "I normally weigh in around 180 lbs, and getting down under 160 just kills me," he says. "I'm looking forward to getting down to some serious eating, some solid food."
Coach John Higginson takes a bit of a more fatalistic approach to Sunday's affair. "It's the end of the racing season and it's what the oarsmen have been training for all year long--there really is to other reason to row," he says.
"It's a championship regatta," says heavyweight coach Harry Parker. "It's the best chance to prove you're the fastest crew."
"For me this is the culmination of rowing," heavy stroke Al Shealy notes "This is the last race as far as a national championship regatta."
Because of its significance the Sprints tends to bring out the best in oarsmen.
Savs Shealy, "The Sprints is a different kind of race. Everybody does their best. They hold nothing back and go all out. We know we'll have to row the hardest race of our lives to win it."
EASTERN SPRINTS SEEDINGS
Heavyweight Varsity
1. Harvard; 2. Wisconsin; 3. Cornell; 4. MII; 5. Rutgers; 6. Pennsylvania; 7. Northeastern; 8. Syracuse; 9. Princeton; 10. Navy; 11. Brown; 12. Yale; 13. Boston U; 14. Dartmouth; 15. Columbia.
Heavyweight Second Varsity
1. Harvard; 2. MII; 3. Cornell; 4. Wisconsin; 5. Northeastern; 6. Navy; 7. Rutgers; 8. Pennsylvania; 9. Syracuse; 10. Yale; 11. B U; 12. Brown; 13. Princeton
