Crew's Chances of Victory Over Eli Are Brightest Since 1920

Tomorrow evening at 7 o'clock, as the sinking sun sends its rays across the upper waters of the Thames, the Harvard University crew will leave its Red Top boathouse and paddle to the starting line with its prospects for victory over Yale brighter than those of any Harvard crew since 1920.

Both the Crimson and Blue shells have taken the wash from a rival boat once this season. But the only victor over Harvard was the Annapolis eight, generally considered the strongest crew in the country, and the probable winner in the Poughkeepsie regatta Monday. Yale's colors were dipped only to Princeton in an amazing upset on Lake Carnegie, in which the over-confident Eli eight was caught napping. Both of the rivals have beaten Cornell and Pennsylvania; Harvard has defeated M. I. T. and Yale has taken Columbia's measure. So for the first time in many years the Thames classic will find two of the leading eights in America pulling down the course.

The known power of the first Harvard crew to represent the regime of Head Coach E.J. Brown '96 will undoubtedly lead Coach Leader and Stroke Laughlin of Yale to plan a race very different from the 1925 campaign. Two years ago Yale allowed Harvard to gain an open-water lead, the Elis conserving their strength until the last two miles, when they pulled ahead to win. If Yale gets behind tomorrow, they will find it difficult to catch up. Stroke John Watts '28, once his crew gets the lead, keeps his eye on the rival boat, matches every sprint, and strives to catch the oppoing coxwain napping. But if Yale gets a distinct lead at the start, the heady Laughlin should manage to keep ahead, for although the Harvard crew is gigantically powerful, the Yale oarsmen are no weaklings.

Thus the start should play an unusually important part in tomorrow's race. If the crews get away even, they will probably have a ding-dong battle throughout the four miles to the New London bridge, for although Yale has the edge in experience, the crews are almost equally powerful. Yale's advantage in experience--six Elis have raced the four gruelling miles as opposed to four Harvard sweep-swingers, and Laughlin has rowed two winning races while Watts has never set the pace in a four-mile contest--gives the Blue whatever slight pre-race odds there are.

The regatta will be officially opened this afternoon when the combination crews meet. The Harvard combination outfit has not been at all impressive in practice, but the last minute shift which put E. B. Hanley '27 at stroke improves its chance. Hanley, who rowed 7 on the 150-pound crew, is a splendid oar and has great endurance.

Tomorrow at 10 o'clock the Freshman crews will meet in a two-mile upstream clash. Yale is not tremendously powerful, having lost to Princeton, and the Crimson 1930 boat is a slight favorite. Captain Willard's boat, however, has a way of looking pretty in practice and not so fast under fire. In its one race it beat M. I. T. and Pennsylvania, but not by the margin which the difference in the appearance of the crews seemed to warrant.

The race for second crews which follows the Freshman encounter, will find two well-matched eights. Cornell's Jayvees lost to Yale and beat Harvard, so the Blue is slightly favored.