Harvard Makes Most of Its Second Chance : Rowing: Protest forces a rerun of premier men’s college event in the San Diego Crew Classic, depriving Washington of an apparent victory.

SAN DIEGO —  The University of Washington dropped from first to last in its second attempt to win the Copley Cup Saturday in the premier race of the 17th San Diego Crew Classic.

The Huskies thought they had won the first major regatta of the collegiate rowing season, but Wisconsin’s protest that it didn’t get a proper start forced a re-row, the first any official could remember in the event.

Defending NCAA champion Harvard, which had made a strong dash in the first race, only to finish a quarter of a boat length behind Washington, won the second final, beating UCLA.

UCLA won the main prize for college women, the Whittier Cup, beating Cal by nearly five seconds.

“This is the biggest race for us ever,” UCLA Coach Kelly Salonites. “We’ve never won anything, and to come away winning the JV and the varsity is more than we could have ever hoped for; it’s fantastic.”

That was a good description for the first running of the men’s varsity heavyweight final. Harvard moved from fourth to second, but Washington held them off over the final 100 meters.

But Wisconsin protested after finishing fourth. A stiff crosswind at the start had it pointed about 20 degrees off its mark, and coxswain Mark Sniderman said he was trying to get the starter’s attention when she signaled the race’s beginning.

After a delay of an hour and 15 minutes, the second final was run, and Washington went down the tubes. Harvard won the 2,000-meter race in 6 minutes 11.31 seconds, ahead of UCLA (6:15.45), Navy (6:16.0), Syracuse (6:18.44), Wisconsin (6:20.77) and the Huskies (6:21.68).

“It was quite clear (Washington) raced for all they were worth in the first race, but we did too,” said Harvard Coach Harry Parker. “I was not at all confident that we were going to come up with such a strong row the second time.

“I’m sure it was very, very hard for (Washington) to get back in the water. I don’t think anybody, even Wisconsin, likes to go through that routine. On the other hand, I do think they deserved a fair race, and it didn’t seem like they got it the first time.”

Washington Coach Bob Ernst was upset afterward, and not just because it lost to rival Harvard, which beat Washington for the national championship last year.

“We won the race, and the other guys got a second chance on life,” he said. “I don’t care who won it ultimately; we won it the first time and that’s all that matters to me.”

Ernst said that official Julian Wolf, who upheld the protest, emphasized at a Thursday meeting for officials, coaches and coxswains, that boats that weren’t ready should not start the race; they should simply sit and allow officials to call a restart.

“(Wisconsin) should have stayed there. That specific question was discussed at the meeting,” Ernst said. “He’s the head official, and he’s the one who changed it today.”

Wolf could not be reached for comment.

“You’re not always supposed to stay; it’s mostly a judgment call,” Sniderman said. “Bob Ernst is right in some ways, and I can understand that he’s got to be madder than hell right now, but when you’re on the line, and they hear ‘Etes vous prets? Partez!’ (“Are you ready? Go!”), they go, and there’s nothing you can do as a coxswain to stop them. And once everyone’s going, you might as well keep going.

“I toyed with the idea (of trying to stop the boat), but I didn’t think the officials would award us a new start; I didn’t think the damage was that bad, and once we got past 100 meters, they won’t allow you to stop. It’s definitely not an absolute law that you’ve got to sit on the line. It’s the official’s call, and I think they made the right call in this case.”

Sniderman and bowman Nick Donovan were trying to get the starter’s attention when the race began. Sniderman said it takes about 20 seconds to go 100 meters, but in those decisive seconds, he opted to compete first and protest later.

It worked. For Harvard.

Rowing Notes

San Diego teams that won were Eosophobic, out of the Mission Bay Rowing Assn., in Women’s Master 8 27-plus (years); ZLAC Rowing Club, Women’s Master 8 37-plus, and San Diego State men’s lightweight, Cal-Visitor Challenge Petite (consolation). . . . The UCLA varsity women (7:13.62) beat Pacific 10 rivals Cal (7:18.53), Stanford (7:19.07) and Washington (7:24.89). Wisconsin and Pennsylvania followed. Senior Leslie Lewis said, “I think I knew that we were fast, but not quite how fast. A lot of teams taper for this race, but this is just our first race, and we used it as a part of training. We weren’t saying that we were coming here to win, we just wanted to see how we stacked up against the competition.” . . . More than 80 universities and clubs participated.