Rain, Sleet, Hail Pelt Varsity Eights as Cornell Crew Snaps Crimson's String

With the proper accompaniment of supernatural reaction, the airing of Crimson crew victories was snapped Saturday on Lake Cayuga by a powerful cornell eight in the teeth of a tempest. The defeat was the first in eleven starts since the Navy race in 1937.

Under fair water conditions four Varsity boats, Cornell, Syracuse, Pennsylvania, and Harvard, rowed up to a flying start for a two mile race, while thunderheads were threatening overhead. At the mile rain curtained the boats as they rowed down the course, Harvard out ahead with the largest early lead of any contest this season. Syracuse was second, followed by Penn, with the Big Red trailing the fleet.

Then things began to happen, as a ripping sleet, hail, and rain storm hit the boats with the Crimson in the offshore lane. Up to this point the boats were rowing a usual race, with Cornell lagging with its characteristically slow start. The boats failed to emerge from the storm until after the race was ever, and at times they were completely obscured from the launches only a few yards away.

Keeping its stroke down to below thirty for a good part of the race, the Cornell sight pulled ahead slowly with their most comparatively free of water. The failure of the Crimson to respond in the storm with a lower stroke was partially responsible for the almost immediate falling back of the Harvard boat to third place. Penn was already far in the wake. The crews reached the finish with the Big Red a length in the lead and Harvard and Syracuse second in a dead heat. The Quaker and the Cornell shells immediately started to sink while the foundering oarsmen made for the launches. By constant bailing, the Syracuse and Crimson eights managed to keep the water from lapping at the gunwales inboard until they reached the boat house.

Under far more favorable conditions earlier in the afternoon, the Jayvees took the Syracuse boat for the second time this year by an expected length and left the Big Red Junior Varsity and Penn straggled along in that order. From the flying start to the finish the Jayvees rowed their own race and maintained a satisfactory lead over the Orangemen.

Rough water from the wake of several pleasure boats made rowing difficult at first, and Jack Wilson found it hard to settle the stroke down to the usual 32, but once he was able to the crew responded beautifully and spaced out well.