University of Virginia Library

Cavalier 8
Beats RPI

Virginia's varsity eight rowed
to another victory Saturday, extending
its record for the season
to 6 wins and 1 loss. With the
aid of a starting innovation, the
Cavalier crew beat RPI by two
lengths with a time of 7:07 over
the slow James River course.

Previously, Virginia had been
using a twenty stroke starting sprint
at 40 strokes per minute and rowed
the body of the race at about
34 strokes. On Saturday the starting
sprint was lengthened to thirty
strokes and the stroke during the
body was lowered to a 32.

As the Cavaliers beat the Rams
in Richmond the first year boat
was defeated by superior competition
in Washington. Using a borrowed
shell, the first-year men
crossed the finish line near Thompson
Boat House behind the
Georgetown and Marietta freshmen.
Georgetown's winning time
was 6:06 and the Virginia boat
trailed by fourteen seconds.

This Saturday the Cavalier varsity
crew will portage to Washington
for a race that will preview
the outcome of the national
small college championships in two
weeks. Eight crews will be racing
on the Potomac in a varsity and
a "super-varsity" race. Virginia
has been seeded in the "super varsity."
race because of its excellent
record this season. The
Varsity boat will face three of the
best small rowing schools in the
nation, Georgetown, George
Washington and Rollins. All three
of these varsity crews are veterans
of three years racing experience
and a good Virginia showing Saturday
should be indicative of similar
success in two weeks.