Crew, Divided in Twain, Loses Twice at Nationals

The Harvard crew, divided in half, lost twice at the Orchard Beach National Championships over the weekend in a leisurely preliminary to the Olympics in October.

Coach Harry Parker had divided his eight-oared shell into a four with (Coxswain) and a four without, and they have been practicing that way for three weeks. Each boat finished third in its weekend race.

The four with, composed of Paul Hoffman, Steve Brooks, Fritz Hobbes, Scott Steketee, and Andy Larkin, lost to Penn and Vesper Saturday. The four without, composed of Art Evans, Curt Canning, Cleve Livingston, and Dave Higgins--the stern pair and the bow pair--finished on Saturday behind Vesper and the Eastern Development Clinic working out of M.I.T.

Harvard also entered a junior varsity quintet in the four with race, and the boat finished fourth, just behind the other Harvard boat. JV oarsmen Monk Terry and Charlie Hamlin entered the pair without race, finished third.

Ontario Eight

There was also a eight-oar championship race at Orchard Beach, which Harvard did not enter. The race was won by St. Catherine's (Ontario) Rowing Club, which is Canada's Olympic entry. The Canadian boat bested Vesper by over a length, but it was not the same top nine men which Vesper put up in a losing effort to Harvard at the Olympic Trials in California last month.

For Harvard, this was the last competition before the Olympics in Mexico City. The crew will now return to rowing as an eight with, and will move to Colorado for high altitude training.