Yale was seeded first, Princeton second; and the Crimson third in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges sprint championship races scheduled for Saturday.

It marked the first time in many years that Harvard was not the number one choice before the E.A.R.C. regatta. The Crimson is still the crew to beat, however, in the minds of many opposition coaches.

For Yale, a poor relation in the eastern rowing family during the past three years, its ascendency came as a sudden pleasure.

Harvard will row Navy, Columbia, and Rutgers in the first heat of the regatta which will take place on Princeton's Lake Carnegie, one of the best courses in the east. Last year's E.A.R.C. regatta was run off in one race, an arrangement which dissatisfied coaches greatly.