Lightweight Crew Opens Season Today

The crew racing season opens this afternoon with what could prove to be the year's most exciting race on the Charles River as the lightweights face Cornell and M.I.T. Last year the Big Red put on a tremendous finishing sprint that failed by only inches from spoiling the varsity's undefeated season.

Today's race could be the main stumbling block to repeating such an outstanding season. Unfortunately Coach Laury Coolidge has so far been unsuccessful in finding the best combination of oarsmen In fact any combination that could consistently win inter-squad races has been extremely elusive. The eight racing as the varsity today was only Thursday the J.V. boat.

However rather than a display of weakness the tight competition is a sign of the squad's terrific depth and balance and can be looked upon as a dividend of last year's amazing results when every lightweight crew in the boathouse went undefeated throughout the season. The varsity eight contains five sophomores including stroke Tony Goodman. But perhaps the most surprising fact is that the three returning members of the championship Henley crew, --Rowell Chase, Mike Christian, and Captain Mark Hoffman--due to the reversal of varsity and J.V. boats on Thursday, are in the J.V. eight along with four sophomores.

In time trials this spring over the mile and five-sixteenths Henley distance the crews have turned in very good times. On Wednesday and Thursday the varsity rowed the course in 6:43 and 6:44, excellent for so early in the season. There is no doubt, however, that the Crimson has been decidedly hampered this spring by the late thaw of the Charles, which greatly reduced the number of practices before spring vacation. As a consequence the rowing of all the lightweight crews is rougher and less precise than at a comparable time last year.

The shortage in miles rowed is particularly serious, but the varsity crews have nearly completed the 200 miles on the water which the coaches regard as the minimum necessary. The time shortage has contributed to Coolidge's difficulties in sorting out the oarsmen; it has prevented the individual attention and complicated the process of shuffling line-ups, since there has been little spare time to wait and see how a boat would settle down together.

The events of this past week are a good example of the inconsistency that has plagued the squad. After violently mixing the lineups of his four boats all spring, Coolidge left intact the same combinations since last Monday. On that day the boat stroked by Hoffman, designed as the varsity, beat Goodman's J.V.'s by a full length. But Wednesday Goodman's boat trounced the varsity by a length of open water, or two boat-lengths in all. Then Thursday it repeated the performance, although winning by only a length, and so earned the right to race the varsity shell against Cornell.

Coolidge stated Thursday night that he was convinced he could get a still stronger eight, and it is definite that next week will see further changes in the crews. One change will certainly bring Hoffman back to the first boat. Described by Coolidge as "one of the best oarsmen on the squad," he has been the nucleus of attempts to build a varsity boat throughout the year.

The triumph of Goodman's crew testifies to the importance of smoothness and teamwork in rowing. Although the J.V. is probably somewhat stronger than the present varsity they have not displayed the same efficiency or "togetherness" which characterizes the best crews.

The extraordinary number of sophomores in the first two boats has proven rather a surprise on a squad which contains so many good upper-classmen. They are there, according to Coolidge, "because even though they have lacked form they have made the boat go."

Fortunately, while the Crimson is suffering from shortage of practice Cornell probably has had the same late start. The Big Red, undefeated last year except by the Crimson and with five returning men from the first boat, is rated as "the team to beat" this year.

Next weekend the Crimson will travel with M.I.T. to Annapolis for a regatta with Navy. Because of budgetary cuts only the varsity will make the trip. On May 2 the lightweights will play host to Dartmouth and M.I.T. in the Biglin Cup races. The following weekend the varsity runs into the really heavy competition when it meets Princeton and Yale in New Jersey. Both schools have in recent years consistently produced strong lightweight crews; either or both could come up with a winner.

On May 16 the Charles River will see the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges sprints with a dozen crews contesting for the championship. For several years the winner has gone to England and captured the Thames Cup at Henley, won last year for the first time by the Crimson.

The regatta this afternoon will be rowed over the Charles River Basin course with the finish line just below the M.I.T. boathouse on Memorial Drive. The races will be at 5, 5:30, and 6 p.m. for the Freshmen, J.V. and varsity respectively.

This morning there will be two preliminary races at 11 and 11:30 a.m. The Crimson third varsity will meet the M.I.T. varsity and Brown varsity. The other race will feature the M.I.T. and Harvard second freshmen crews.

Lineup for the Crimson varsity lightweights: Bow, J. Noble; 2, J. French; 3. I. Drestler; 4. F. Cabot; 5. M. Hodder; 6. L. McKeeman; 7. D. Richards; Stroke, A. Goodman; Cox, J. Pelofsky.