Crimson, JV, Yardling Light Crews Compete for Eastern Championship

The 155-pound varsity crew left this morning for Princeton, N.J., to compete with 11 other colleges for the Eastern Intercollegiate Championship. The Crimson, after two straight defeats at the hands of M.I.T. and Princeton, will float a revised lineup Saturday that has changed the entire complexion of the crew for their last race of the year.

At the same time, the junior varsity and freshman eights will be competing at Princeton for the Eastern Championships in their divisions.

Coach Lee Rouner summed up the changes he made in the varsity this week: "We relied upon power and lost because we rowed rough; now we are going to try for some smoothness without sacrificing too much power."

In their first three races, the Crimson lightweights relied upon big men, whose power was counted upon to offset any deficiencies in their rowing techniques. As a consequence, they have had to come from behind in every race. The first time out, against Tech, their late spurt succeeded; but they have had two successive defeats as a result of too high an early stroke and too late a spurt.

Emphasize Smoothness

When the lighter junior varsity beat the varsity in a time trial Monday, Rouner finally switched his emphasis from power to smoothness. "We played musical chairs all week until what seems to be the best combination finally showed up," he said.

The stern of the boat, which usually represents the major power in a shell, has been cleared of big men in favor of smaller men with more perfect form.

Eric Oddleifson, whom Rouner promoted from the J.V.s last week, remains at stroke. Four others have been moved up from the undefeated junior varsity: Bill Lawrence, Frank Maybank, Bill Lindemulder, and Bob Warren, who will row 7, 6, 2, and Bow respectively.

Light Workout

Rouner worked the new combination hard Tuesday and Wednesday, but the varsity had only a light workout yesterday. "They worked as hard as any crew I have ever seen, and showed great improvement," Rouner said yesterday. He plans at least one workout on the Lake Carnegie course before the race Saturday.

His other two crews are both undefeated. "The freshmen looked especially good this week. They might surprise everybody," he said. He was less optimistic about the jayvees because of their lack of practice as a unit.

The varsity will row in the second heat Saturday, at 11:10 a.m. Opposing crews in this heat are Yale, Navy, B.U. and Columbia. Other crews entered include Princeton, Tech, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Cornell, and Syracuse. The first two crews in each heat wil row against each other in the afternoon for the championship.