Start slows W. Crew at San Diego Classic

There are some things in sports for which you can't practice. For the women's crew team this past weekend, it was being in line with five other boats at the San Diego Classic. Penn's initial race this season involved just two boats. But when a team is in line with five other boats, it must wait while the official makes sure each boat is ready. During Saturday's qualifying races, this period took 45 seconds, a long time when you are anxiously waiting to begin a race. Before coxswain Kate Lehman and the rest of the Quakers knew it, they heard, "Set, Go!" The Quakers weren't prepared, and got off to a shaky start. "There's no way you can simulate being in a line with five other boats in an unusual place," Penn coach Carol Bower said. "They're learning to deal with this the best possible way, and that was by being there." Penn was forced to play catch up the rest of the race and eventually finished fourth out of six teams in its initial heat. Only the top three finishers in each of Saturday's two initial heats qualified for Sunday's competition. Penn finished eighth overall out of 12 crews. The eventual winner of the regatta was the University of Washington. The mistake the Quakers made opening Saturday's heat was they came off the starting line at a pace containing too many strokes per minute. For Penn it is optimal to start off at about 40 to 42 strokes per minute. However, the Red and Blue started at about 43 or 44. "Forty-three or 44 is too high," Bower said. "Because we rely on chemistry, one or two strokes makes a big difference." There are two negative effects of starting out with too high a stroke rate. The crew gets tired out early and doesn't get into a good rhythm. It took Penn about about 1,000 meters to settle down and start rowing well. The Quakers had an excellent third quarter of the race, something they had worked on in practice. That propelled them from fifth to fourth. "We had a bad start but we didn't let it get to us," Goldstein said. Penn ended with a good sprint, finishing just shy of third-place Dartmouth. "They had a good second half of the race," Bower said of her team. "The only problem was that for their sprint they weren't in position to make it work and go through other crews." The next day in the consolation race, the Quakers beat four crews, losing only to Temple. "We focused on the first half of the race Sunday," Goldstein said. Several positives came out of the regatta for the Quakers, who beat Navy in their first race last weekend. For one, it was the first time everyone was healthy and had a chance to row together. Earlier, several rowers had been sick and sixth seat Heather Whalen was out with tendinitis. The San Diego Classic was also a good experience as a preseason competition because Penn went up against some of the best teams in the country. "You want to put yourself in the hardest possible situation," Bower said. "It's really good to go against some of the top crews. Eventually you'll rise to that level." The Quakers' season continues April 15 when they host Syracuse and Northwestern. "I feel like we are on the right path," Bower said. We're not at our goal yet, but its early April and we're headed in the right direction."