Sport: Change of Scene

• Share

For 55 years, only the Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Chamber of Commerce has been really satisfied with the site of the nation's top regatta. The Hudson River currents favored some lanes over others, the housing facilities were cramped, and sudden squalls often swamped the shells. Worst of all, the observation train, which used to run along the Hudson's bank and provide a source of considerable revenue, had not run since before the war. Last week the Intercollegiate Rowing Association finally decided to look for greener fields and smoother rivers.

The choice was Marietta, Ohio (pop. 19,500), where the calm Ohio River (see map) bends gradually along a three-mile course with dams above and below it that control the currents. The crews can be comfortably housed in Marietta College dormitories, and the Baltimore & Ohio has promised an observation train. Pleased as punch with the coup, Marietta boosters were already starting a $20,000 fund-raising campaign to take care of the visitors.