Harvard, Radcliffe Crews Sweep Races

Rough water and a 20-mile-per-hour wind were the biggest obstacles facing the Harvard heavyweight crew as Harry Parker's charges crushed the Brown heavyweights by six lengths on the Seekonk River in Providence Saturday to capture the Stein Trophy for the tenth consecutive year.

The Crimson covered the 2000 meter course in 6:23 with the hapless Bruins finishing at 6:56.7.

The race was close for all of the first 40 strokes of the race, due to the Crimson starting the race with only ten high-cadence strokes before settling.

Light and Fragile

"We have a very light, fragile boat," explained captain Dave Fellows, the number-five man. "It doesn't like to get bounced around, so we had to settle as soon as we got the boat moving because of the rough water."

Brown, on the other hand, kept its stroke rate at a high cadence for 40 strokes before settling. The result was a two-seat margin for the Bruins.

As soon as Brown settled, however, Harvard began to gain on the Bruins, passing Brown at the 350-meter point and relentlessly adding to the lead.

By the 1000-meter mark the Crimson had a three-length advantage. The water was calmer after this point in the race, and the heavies sailed to an easy victory.

Although the Crimson won by a decisive margin, some members of the team were not enthusiastic about the win.

"We aren't overly optimistic about the results," said number-seven man Steve Row. "Brown isn't all that good, and the bad conditions and strong headwind accounted for the large victory-margin."

J. V. Triumph

The junior varsity, racing before the varsity, started under even worse conditions. After leaving the dock, they had to sit on the water for 45 minutes before the officials decided to let them race.

Unlike the varsity, the J.V.'s took charge at the start, blasting past Brown to an amazing one-length margin after the first 15 strokes.

The Crimson settled at a low 31 because of the strong headwind and kept building its lead. The final margin was about eight lengths, with Harvard crossing the line at 7:19.5 and the Bruins at 7:58.5.

The freshmen also won their races handily. The Yardling first boat won by 21.3 seconds, and the frosh second boat won their race by 14.6 seconds.