Harvard Crew Olympic Contender, Rows Against Yale at New London

When the Harvard crew beat defending champion Cornell to win the Eastern Sprint title May 16, it became the favored boat to represent the United States in the Tokyo Olympics.

First, however, the Crimson must win the Olympic trials July 8-11 on Orchard Lagoon next to the New York World's Fair. To warm up for that the eight meets Yale at New London on June 20.

If it comes through these tests successfully, the 1964 boat will be the first Harvard crew to row for the United States at the international games. In Tokyo, it will seek to restore U.S. supremacy in the heavyweight category and to recoup the prestige lost by Navy in 1960.

The crew is currently in New London practicing for the Yale Regatta. Unlike the Olympic trials and the Eastern Sprints, which were over 2000 meter courses, the race with Yale is a long one--four miles.

But the distance is traditional, and both coach Harry Parker and captain Harry Pollock insist that the break between the sprints and the trials will do the boat good. Last year the Crimson beat the Elis by eight lengths.

The Harvard crew does not row with the regular American oar but uses a European "tulip" or "shovel" oar. The new style has served well, and the Crimson has lowered the Charles River record for 2000 meters twice this season--first by beating Princeton and M.I.T. in the Compton Cup (the record fell from 6:15.4 to 6:00.1), and again by whipping Navy and Penn for the Adams Cup (the new record: 5:54.6).

The real test came in the sprints, when the Crimson faced an undefeated Yale squad and perennially powerful Cornell. Although the Elis had whipped the Big Red over 2000 meters with a phenomenal time of 5:53, Harvard was seeded first with Yale second and Cornell third.

In the final heat, the Crimson never saw another boat's wake. The Yale crew, after maintaining a blistering pace of 35 to 36 strokes per minute in the early part of the race, fell behind at the half way mark. Cornell made its traditional sprint at the end, but Harry Pollock's boat just responded by picking up its own pace to finish well ahead.

Cornell and Yale are not silenced yet, and whatever the outcome of the Harvard-Yale regatta, the Crimson can expect some of its toughest competition in the Olympic trials to come from its Ivy League foes.

The varsity heavyweight crew is not the only Harvard boat that may make news this summer. The J. V. heavies, after finishing an undefeated season and winning its division in the Eastern Sprints, will accompany the varsity light weights to England to compete for the Grand Challenge Cup. (It was just 50 years ago that Leverett Saltonstall's J. V. crew made the same trip and won).