When you're the best around, when you're the best in town, a little adversity isn't a handicap, it's a challenge to force your performance well beyond anything the competition can offer.

The Harvard men's lightweight crew has a 12-year habit of going to the Eastern Sprints Championship and coming back with the Jope Cup. But now there's a bit of spice in the offing this year, for it seems the lights will have to defend the title without a freshman eight.

This year, the Sprints will be held on the Thames in New London on May 23, a Sunday in the middle of exam period. The Administrative Board has to grant teams permission to go on the road during exams--and usually, it does. Last year, for instance, the Harvard baseball team went to the NCAA regional playoffs at West Point, even though some team members stayed in Cambridge to take tests.

The Heavyweights on the Faculty

But this spring, when athletic director Jack Reardon asked the Ad Board for permission to let the crew attend the Sprints, the board left the decision to the senior tutors for upperclassmen and ruled that it is in the best interest of the yardlings to stay in Cambridge.

Freshman lightweight coach Bob Leahey had to explain to his team one day after practice that students face a hard enough time coping with their first spring exams without preparing for a race.

So now the lightweight crew has no chance to win points in the freshman races and must excel in both varsity and J.V. in New London if it hopes to maintain its reign in the East. The two upperclass races are weighted heavier in the scoring at the Sprints, but still account for only a little more than two-thirds of the points. Varsity captain Jeffrey MacMillan says the lights may have to win both races, and even then the rowers could not be certain to hold onto the Cup.

Dynasty

This year the rowers will face well-rounded squads from Cornell and Princeton. Princeton is definitely the team to beat, since six men in its varsity shell will be returning this year. Harvard has only three veterans in the first boat this year, but its team depth is renowned. Any team that can win the junior varsity race 14 years running doesn't have a tradition for winning at the Sprints--it has a dynasty.

The loss of the freshmen from the Sprints means the freshmen will race only once with the rest of the team this year, at Navy on April 26. The lightweights have a much skimpier schedule than their heavyweight counterpart, and their absence from the Sprints means a much bigger notch in their schedule.