Henley Pairings Favor Crimson In Thames Regatta Eliminations

Drawings and places in the Royal Henley Regatta, which gets under way Wednesday on the Thames, appear to favor both the Harvard crews entered in the rowing classic.

The Crimson's varsity heavyweight eight meets the London Rowing Club in the first round of eliminations for the Grand Challenge Cup, the principle event of the regatta.

The 150 pound crew, which has not been defeated for two seasons, will defend the Thames Challenge Cup it captured last summer, meeting the Crowland Rowing Club in the first start. Both are expected to have an easy time of it in the early rounds.

Since there is no room on the narrow Thames for all crews to compete for a trophy at the same time, winning at Henley is a process of elimination. The final events take place on Saturday.

The four Harvard spare oarsmen, two from each crew, had planned to enter competition for the Wyfold Challenge Cup, but had to withdraw when they couldn't find a suitable sponsor.

They sought to represent the Weld Boat Club, the rowing club which provides single sculls and shells for House crews at Harvard, but they failed to get the needed approval of Weld officials.