Perfection has never seemed so imperfect.

The Harvard varsity heavyweight crew continued its dominance of the collegiate rowing world Saturday with a convincing nine-second victory over Princeton on Lake Compton in Princeton, N.J. MIT finished third, 35 seconds off the pace.

The Crimson has now swept its first five races of the season, but Coach Harry Parker's squad is quite aware that there are two circumstances which have prevented its season from being anything close to its expectations.

First, the Crimson has yet to row a strong first 500 meters in its races this season. Saturday was no exception, as the Tigers jumped out to a quick four-seat lead off the starting line.

"We had a rocky start," coxswain Travis Metz said. "We haven't had a good start all year, but even when we were down four seats, I was not terribly scared."

And there was no reason to be scared. Harvard recovered as quickly as the Tigers had jumped out to the lead, rowing faster than its opponents when the two boats settled to their respective base cadences to pull even by the 500-meter mark.

"I think they suffered a letdown after we caught them so quickly," Metz said. "Their strategy seemed to be to try and jump out to a quick lead and hold on for the win, and they seemed frustrated. Princeton's having a few troubles this year, switching personel a lot, although their cox did tell me that this was their best race of the year."

The Crimson cruised through the last 1500 meters at a top speed--the kind which a boat that includes world-class rowers Peter Sharis, Jon Bernstein, Phil Schuller, John Amory and Jack Rusher is capable of consistently achieving.

But what, do you ask, besides the slow starts, has kept Harvard's undefeated season from living up to all of its expectations?

The Adams Cup race next Saturday on the Charles at 8:45 a.m. Despite fielding national Championship-caliber crews every year, the Crimson has failed to capture the Adams Cup from Penn and Navy the last five years and Harvard's performance so far this season won't mean a thing without the victory next week.

"Our entire focus this season has been on Penn," Metz said. "It's impossible to understate our desire to win the Adams Cup."

The JV heavyweight boat nipped Princeton by 2.7 seconds and the freshman heavies outlasted the Tigers by 6.6 seconds.

Lightweights Roll On

The lightweight boat continued its winning streak, rolling by Navy Saturday on the Severn River in Annapolis, Md. for its third consecutive easy victory. The Crimson lights swept Navy in all races but the first freshman race.

Harvard (3-1) pulled off its race strategy with few problems, roaring to a one-length lead by the 500-meter mark and gradually building on its lead throughout the race.

"We've had disappointing sprints so far this year," coxswain Andy Cameron said, "but we definitely rowed a good race this time. We've really refined our racing skills in the last few weeks."

The Crimson will have an opportunity to avenge its only loss of the year--to Yale at the San Diego Crew Classic--when it races in the H-Y-Ps against the Elis and Princeton next weekend.