Heavies Top Navy, Penn in Adams Cup

In its final race before The Race, the Harvard heavyweight crew breezed past Navy and Penn Saturday to take the Adams Cup for the eighth time in nine years on the choppy Severn River in Annapolis, Md.

The Crimson finished the 2000-meter course in 5:58.0 to Navy's 6:04.7 and Penn's 6:10.5, maintaining its undefeated record one week before the showdown with Yale at the Eastern Sprint championships in Worcester, Mass.

Coach Harry Parker's varsity seems to have overcome any early season worries about starts since once again, as in their previous two races, the oarsmen jumped to an early lead. With 750 meters gone, the Crimson had stretched its advantage to nearly a full length.

But Navy soon pulled to within a boat length and a half, a threat that prompted Harvard to pick up the cadence from about 33 and a half strokes per minute to 35 or 36.

"I was disappointed by them catching up and a little bit scared," Paul Templeton, the senior bow oarsman, said yesterday, adding. "They're the kind of crew that if they got a little bit of momentum, they would really come on."

But Harvard never allowed Navy to steal the momentum and as senior five seat Hap Porter said. "We pulled away convincingly in the second half."

Heavy favorites after winning the San Diego Crew Classic over fourth-placed Penn and sixth-place Navy in the season opener, the Crimson struggled against a turbulent sea, made more worrisome by a strong tail wind. According to a crew truism, such winds minimize the difference between crews.

"It was kind of rough water so it was hard to really jack it up," senior stroke and captain Gordie Gardiner said yesterday.

"We were a little more careful than usual and our stroke was a little lower, but Navy and Penn were catching crabs [improper oar entries into the water which slow or even stop a boat] right and left, so we had to be careful," Gardiner added.

Porter concurred, saying. "We got out pretty strong, but there was a strong tail wind and pretty big rolls so we didn't move away from Navy as fast as we wanted."

The Harvard oarsmen paid particular attention to the margin of victory over Penn, as Yale, ranked number one in the nation to Harvard's two, defeated the Quakers by 13.4 seconds on the Housatonic River last weekend.

The Crimson's margin of victory was 12.5 seconds, close enough to the Yale bulge, and an even tighter match considering Yale and Penn rowed into a head wind--which is known to maximize race margins. Harvard and Penn rowed with a tail wind, which tends to shorten times between crews.

Next weekend, in the forum of the Eastern Sprints, Yale and Harvard will square off to determine national supremacy. Noting the respective margins over Penn, Porter said, "What it means is that it's going to be a very close race next weekend."

The 1979 edition of Parker's heavies is the smallest ever, averaging a not-so-petite 6-ft., 2-ins. and 185-lbs. They face a boatful of behemoths against Yale including Eric Stevens and Matt Levine, both 6-ft. 7-in. and 215 lbs. However, Harvard boasts more race experience this year and a finely-tuned, lean and strong boat. The race promises to be a classic. As Gardiner said, "There's no question it's going to be a showdown--the most incredible showdown between Harvard and Yale in a long time."