'Cliffe Heavies Swamp Princeton, B.U...

Radcliffe's heavyweights did a little animal training this weekend, taming the Tigers and curbing the Terriers as they whipped to their 16th straight victory Saturday on the Charles.

Both Princeton and B.U., which had been making their annual claims to the 'Cliffe's eastern rowing throne, were silenced after 30 strokes when Radcliffe jumped to an early lead.

As the two aspirant crews slapped through rough water conditions, they had yet another wake to tangle with--Radcliffe's Exhibiting its traditional finesse, the 'Cliffe moved steadily through the first 1000-meters to a length's lead.

With 500 meters to go, Radcliffe had open water on the others. The Tigers, half a length back on B.U., began to paw at the Terrier lead. In a gutsy 400-meter long sprint, Princeton clawed relentlessly through B.U., taking a second-place finish and a chunk off Radcliffe's victory margin.

"I was very pleased with out performance," 'Cliffe coach Peter Raymond said yesterday. "They seemed to be rowing very aggressively and handled the messy water in the first 1000 meters very well.

Raymond, whose brother Kip coaches the Princeton women, added that Princeton "rowed really hard and pretty well."

Radcliffe's J.V., stroked by veteran oarswoman and rookie stroke Anne Robinson, also cruised to an easy victory, moving into a lead it never lost after a clean start.

The 'Cliffe's third four, composed of freshmen, demonstrated vast improvement in their second race of the season. Last week, the Radcliffe four jockeyed for position with a four from B.U., barely beating the Terriers in the final ten strokes.

This week, the 'Cliffe four shellacked the same B.U. crew, finishing a full half-minute before the Terriers whimpered across the line.