Oarsmen Justify 'Best Crew' Label

When the New York sportswriters reported the results of the Eastern Intercollegiate sprint regatta at Princeton six weeks ago, they led their stories with a quote from Coach Tom Bolles, "This is she best crew I have ever coached at Harvard."

The phrase was a natural, for Bolles' sweepswingers had won the 2000-meter race in the remarkable time of 6 minutes 5 seconds, defeating Cornell by more than 7 seconds.

Accuracy Questioned

Publishing this comment caused considerable embarrassment in the Crimson camp; Bolles had had some pretty great crews along about the late thirties and the '47 season had not yet fully matured.

Rumor credited the appearance of the quotation to a long range Yale publicity coup, which was climaxed by under-rating the Bulldogs for the Thames regatta two weeks ago. Bolles had made some such remark, the rumor ran, at a coaches' meeting prior to the Princeton race and Yale's mentor, Allen Walz, carried it to the sports writers without Bolles being aware of the deed.

Seattle Race Confirms

"They are good but not great," spoken by the men-who-know, silenced the affair until last Saturday when the Crimson eight splashed across the finish line at the Lake Washington Regatta in the astounding, record-breaking time of 5 minutes 49 seconds. The best time up to then for a placid surface was 13 seconds slower, and last Saturday Bolles was reliably reported to say that "this is the best sprint crew I ever coached."

There is little doubt now about the provocation. The Crimson oarsmen rowed the Seattle course in the fastest time ever recorded for the 2000-meter distance. Time, incidentally, is usually an unreliable factor in judging the worth of various crews; but such is the case when weather, tide, and current conditions can slow down or speed up the best or worst of crews. Last Saturday the Varsity won without benefit of tail-current, most often present when records are made, and nevertheless cracked the Yale time on the Schuykill River in 1928 of 5:51.

Two Experienced

Regardless of the Elis' ulterior-motivated publicity about the "experienced Harvards" and the "neophyte Yales," Bolles had only two former Varsity men in the boat when they defeated Princeton and M.I.T. on the Charles in their first race last April. He fretted about their inexperience and about the adverse weather which kept them from coming down to a good rowing weight.

For his stroke in the number one shell, Bolles had Frank Cunningham, a 1942 150-pounder with a barrel chest and slim hips, who yesterday was chosen, along with number five, Jud Gale, for a Seattle sportswriter's all-star crew. Cunningham led the Crimson to victories at Annapolis, Princeton, and the Thames, besides at Lake Washington, which gives the Varsity an unofficial national championship.

Lose to Cornell

A two-mile defeat on Lake Ithaca by Cornell, whom the Crimson downed twice at the 2000 meter distance, somewhat justifies Bolles' qualification "sprint" in his latest "best crew" quote. The length-and-a-half Varsity triumph against Yale on the Thames was nice to behold but again the crew did not look as impressive as they did at the Princeton regatta for the Olympic sprint distance.