Navy Crew Wins 24th Race; Varsity Third

(The Navy varsity crew is shown above finishing ahead of Pennsylvania and Harvard.)

PHILADELPHIA, May 8--Navy's invincible crew, three year king of Eastern rowing, led Penn and Harvard to the finish today to win the Adams Cup for the third consecutive year and stand alone as the undefeated major crew in the East.

Penn and the varsity had gone into today's race on the flat, muddy Schuylkill as the only other unscathed crews in major Eastern competition.

Over the mile and five-sixteenths Henley course they sorely pressed the Middie eight but lacked Navy's powerful sprint over the final quarter mile. Penn finished a length off the pace and Harvard trailed a length and a half back. The times were 6:08.2, 6:11.6, and 6:14.

The Crimson's sole afternoon victory came in the freshman race between these three schools. The Yardling crew beat Navy by a length and Penn by two and a half lengths in the first race of the Skimmer Day festivities of the University of Pennsylvania.

In the junior varsity race, a beautiful Navy eight outdistanced the Crimson shell by nearly two and a half lengths and left the Red and Blue trailing in its wash four lengths behind. Times were 6:33.4, 6:31.9, and 6:37.9.

Under overcast skies the races were run off before a boisterous crowd of 3,000 Pennsylvanians and their dates, most of whom were dressed in straw hats, Bermuda shorts, and high socks. Sheets of rain had fallen during the morning but by race time at 3:30 p.m. the air was clear and the river smooth. The moderate current and lack of wind prevented any fast times.

For the Crimson varsity the race was a matter of slowly lowering and then slowly raising its stroke without ever settling at a steady low cadence. Always in contention from its excellent start, the shell never dropped more than a deck length behind leading Penn and Navy.

By the half-way marker the oarsmen from Annapolis had overtaken the early Penn lead and were a few feet ahead. The two crews kept this order, with the Crimson stroking at 34, less than a third of a length off the pace going into the half-mile sprint.

Here the precision Navy crew, raising its beat to 38, fought off Penn's powerful surge and rowed easily to its 24th victory in front of a packed pavilion. During the body of the race Crimson timing was good and blade work clean, though the crew's high cadence killed part of its normal swing at the catch and recovery and made the oarsmen too tired for an effective final bid.

The varsity again meets Penn and Navy next week in the Eastern Spring Regatta at Washington. Asked if he would make any changes by then, Coach Harvey Love said, "We just can't stand pat." He did not say whether this meant switching the line-up or improving rowing technique