Go West, Young Oarsman

On the West Coast the home-grown male often seems to run to an angular, muscular 6 ft. 3 in. 175-pounder who likes to lose himself in the anonymity of a number in an eight-oared shell. Each February hordes of them report to Washington Coach Al Ulbrickson and California's Ky Ebright; each June one or the other of the Western crews manages to give the East a rowing lesson. Only twice in the past 18 years has the West failed to win the big Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta at Poughkeepsie.

This year the race had been shifted from the turbulent Hudson to the placid Ohio, where it was hoped that the dams at Marietta would still the current and the complaints of coaches that Poughkeepsie's course was unfair to crews. But the change did not seem to affect the West's standing. Before last week's race undefeated Washington had been picked as the favorite by nine of the twelve coaches, including Washington's Ulbrickson himself. California was the second choice.

Swollen Waters. The change had no more effect on racing conditions. The night before the race, a 5-in. downpour started flash floods on the tributary Muskingum which flows into the course a furlong below the scheduled starting line. By race time, 60-ft. logs and huge masses of debris were sweeping down the Muskingum and onto the course. Even before the downpour struck, Ulbrickson, whose Washington crew had drawn an inside lane, complained that the Muskingum flow "hits you broadside like the wash from a big boat."

To old rowing hands it was a repetition of the confusion that often prevailed at Poughkeepsie. The ripping current dragged the marker buoys and finish line out of position. The observation train (a revenue producer that helped to spur the shift to Marietta) broke down. The course had to be shortened to two miles. Finally the abbreviated races got under way two hours late. Washington won the first race for freshmen; its junior varsity won the second.

Defeated Hopes. With the distance cut to two miles, the sprinting Eastern crews were conceded a better chance in the varsity race over the Westerners, who are trained for endurance. As the toothpick-shaped shells slid to their starting marks, Eastern hopes were centered on M.I.T.'s powerful sprint champions, huskiest boatload on the water. But at the mile mark it was already apparent that the East was outclassed again.

Over the last quarter-mile, without even seeming to raise its beat, smooth-stroking Washington pulled away easily from the field, won by 2% lengths. Seconds later, a cluster of shells swept across the finish line. While regatta officials reserved final decision, the judges crossed their fingers and called it an all-West finish: second, California, third, Stanford, whose crew is not officially recognized by its own university.

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