Oxford Crew Body to Consider Clark Case

The Oxford University rowing association will meet Tuesday to consider whether Chris Clark, a former Orange Coast College crewman, will be permitted to return to the varsity for the race against Cambridge on March 28.

After Clark was cut from the roster Thursday at the urging of Donald McDonald, the association president, and Coach Dan Topolski, varsity crew members protested and threatened to boycott the race against Cambridge, a British sporting institution.

Oxford officials said Clark was dismissed because he refused to change positions on the elite team for the Cambridge race. But crew members said he was being used as a scapegoat for Oxford’s loss to Cambridge last year.

McDonald set a deadline of midnight Sunday for the athletes to return to the team. He told the Associated Press that all except two--Chris Huntington of New York and Chris Penny from Middletown, R.I.--had contacted him to say their protest was over.

“They are prepared to row,” McDonald said. “I just told them, ‘Welcome back.’ ”

However, Clark said Sunday that none of the remaining four Americans on the team--coxwain Jonathan Fish of New York and oarsman Dan Lyons of Wayne, Pa., being the other two--had made up their minds on the protest.

Oxford’s varsity crew is made up of the top rowers from the university’s 35 colleges. Clark, a Newport Beach resident and graduate of Sunny Hills High School, said that 27 college team captains met Sunday night to discuss the controversy and set Tuesday’s agenda.

Even should captains from the 35 colleges vote to reinstate Clark and override the dismissal on Tuesday, Clark said he is unsure whether such a vote will be binding.

“It’s all so stupid,” Clark said Sunday. “It’s just a boat race. I’m being attacked in the media (and) being called an idiot. They’re saying we (the five American team members) came over to row and don’t care about getting degrees. But the tradition is the thing; no one cares what the truth is.”