Lights Win First Race at Henley

Harvard's lightweight crew, frustrated in the opening round last year, has attacked the Henley Regatta with a vengence this week. It attacked it on Saturday, when the Crimson dumped Cambridge University by a half-length, breaking the record on the quarter-mile practice course. It attacked it on Sunday, during a practice run, when Harvard shattered the half-mile record, set by Leander Boat Club last summer, by over four seconds.

And yesterday, though weakened by a mysterious influenza virus, it attacked the regatta when it needed to, leaving a strong Scottish Argonaut eight three seconds behind in the opening round of the Thames Challenge Cup.

"Ironically, we ran into just what we had intended to avoid by coming to England early," said two-man Dave Tyler. "We know that it takes time to become acclimated to the time change and the difference in food and water, and we had figured that by arriving here a week early, we could be in optimal shape by the opening round."

Luckily for Harvard, the regatta is run on a seeding system this sumer rather than on the traditional blind draw. The Crimson drew powerful Cornell last July and lost in the opening round. This week, with the boat suffering from a virus only two days before its first race, a similar draw would have been disastrous.

"We put the whole boat on antibiotics and reduced practice sessions to about half-intensity," coach Steve Gladstone explained. "We were hoping that the quality of work we had done earlier in the week could push us through the first round even if the boat was feeling sub-par."

But even at three-quarter efficiency, Harvard was impressive. The strong start and smooth gliding ability during the middle of a race that had set Harvard apart all week was still there, and it was enough.

The Crimson drove off the line powerfully, with a minimum of roughness, and quickly opened up a small lead. By the mile flags, they had a half-length on the Argonauts, but the British crew was raising its stroke to a frantic, punishing 41, gambling the race on its ability to pull even during the final 550 yards.

But Harvard has never, been behind after the first minute of any race this year, and it was keeping its polished sprint in reserve to insure it. With 550 yards remaining, coxswain Bill Terranova raised the cadence, and exploding, the Crimson opened the margin to three-quarters of a length, not only holding the Argonauts" 41, but negating it. The winning time was exactly seven minutes.

Harvard's winning margin, however, might not be enough to guarantee future success later this week.

The Scottish Argonauts, while considered a strong crew in England, can't match the caliber of Eastern college competition which the Crimson defeated so easily this year. American crews have traditionally cleaned up English eights during Henley's earl rounds, and it is quite probable that the other two American entries, the Penn freshman heavies and M.I.T. varsity lights, would have 'rounced the Argonauts by well over a length.

Assuming the Crimson avoids elimination, it must win twice more to reach the finals, where, presumably, it will face the excellent Penn boat. One loss eliminates an entry, so unlike the Olympics, there is no allowance made for a bad race.

Penn has drawn a bye into the second round and M.I.T., whom Harvard has defeated twice this year, demolished the University College of Dublin entry yesterday to advance as well.

On the basis of previous times, the Crimson has been seeded as the favorite to capture the Thames Cup. But both Penn and M.I.T. are fine boats, and a relapse of virus, if it is enough to merely weaken Harvard, could send the Crimson home empty-handed for the second consecutive summer.

But if the virus stays away, and Harvard can regain the form with which it attacked the Henley regatta earlier in the week, it will be difficult to keep them from the championship.