Harvard Holds On for Victory

The Harvard varsity eight men’s crew figured that to win its first Copley Cup since 1979, it was going to have to go all out during the middle portion of Saturday’s 2,000-meter Grand Final in the 14th San Diego Crew regatta on Mission Bay.

Because of bad weather on the East Coast, Coach Harry Parker’s rowers weren’t able to prepare as much as they would have liked for the season’s first major regatta.

But one thing is certain: Parker and his crew proved that they have excellent foresight.

Harvard started slowly and finished evenly, but, in the middle 1,000 meters, the Crimson took a lead over its six opponents. As a result, Harvard held off Washington by three seconds to win the regatta’s most prestigious race. Navy finished third, just ahead of defending national champion Wisconsin.

Pennsylvania, the defending Copley Cup champion, was eliminated from the Grand Final when it was disqualified in one of Saturday morning’s heats.

In the Whittier Cup Grand Final for women’s varsity eight boats, Washington rallied in the second half of the course to defeat Wisconsin, the defending national and Whittier Cup champion.

The University of San Diego crews, competing in their first Copley and Whittier Cup finals, performed well but were overwhelmed. The men’s and women’s varsity eights both finished last in the Petite (consolation) Final.

Harvard hadn’t competed in San Diego the last two seasons because, Parker said, the crew wasn’t experienced enough to handle the stiff early-season competition. This year, with three seniors and three juniors in his varsity eight boat, Parker figured his team would be ready, with the help of a little strategy.

“There’s an opening between two islands on the middle part of the course, and we figured--because of crosswinds--the water would be roughest there,” said Jim Crick, Harvard’s junior coxswain. “We figured we’d be better than the other crews in the choppy water, so we decided to go our hardest at that point.”

The plan worked, and Harvard overtook Washington, three-time Copley Cup champion (1983-85).

A year ago, Washington’s three-year hold on the championship was ended by another Ivy League school, Penn. The Quakers were back to defend their title Saturday but failed to qualify for the final round.

In the first heat of the day, Penn, in lane six, was forced into lane seven at the start by Stanford. Stanford corrected its course and returned to lane five, its original lane. Penn over-corrected in its attempt to return to lane six and collided with Stanford in lane five.

After an hour-long delay, race officials disqualified Penn.

“According to the rule, we should have stayed our ground originally (in lane six),” Penn Coach Stan Bergman said. “But, we didn’t want to run into them. It’s a goofy rule, and we’re disappointed because we thought we had a shot in the finals.”

Penn’s varsity eight men’s crew defeated Harvard three times last year. Harvard’s winning time in the Copley Grand Final was 6:00.33. Penn, relegated to the Petite (consolation) Final, won that race in 6:03.56.