Princeton, Yale, Navy Dunk Harvard Oarsmen

The lineup has been the same for two weeks now, and the Harvard heavyweight varsity crew is starting to feel really comfortable rowing together.

The only problem Saturday at Philadelphia was that the Navy heavyweight varsity felt even better--almost seven seconds better, in fact--and took the Adams Cup for the first time in fourteen years.

"We did some good rowing--we're getting a lot better, a lot faster," said junior six-man Chris McDougall. "But they got a lead at 600 meters and we just never knew where they were."

Where they were was in the inside of a course with a wicked bend at the 600-meter mark. Going from a crosswind to a tailwind after the curve, the Crimson oarsmen found themselves a length behind a host Penn squad and far behind the Midshipmen.

"They were gone," said sophomore stroke Amos Gelb. "They were out of there."

Way Behind

Harvard rowed right past the Quaker eight but could never make up the open water Navy had acumulated by the end of the 2000-meter course. The Crimson's record falls to 1-3, not familiar figures for any Harvard heavyweight boat, and especially not for this one--only two of the oarsmen are seniors, returned from last years' national championship eight, and four of them are sophomores, up from the freshman eight that won at Henley last year.

Putting aside thoughts of inexperience, the Crimson now moves on to next week's contest with Northeastern and its final chance at revenge on Brown and Navy, the second and most recent teams to play Harvard this season--the Eastern Sprints.

"I think we're just as fast as they are," MacDougall said of the Bruins and the Midshipmen.

Gelb preferred to see the situation in a more seasonable light. "We believe that we can take any boat in the league, except, at the moment, Navy. We have to do a certain amount of required reading."

But don't look for lines at Lamont. Watch for whitecapes on the Charles. "It's the type of course where, if you don't do the reading, the professor is going to stamp all over you," Gelg warned.

"If you do the reading, you pass the course, and I don't think any of us flunked a course vet," he added.