On the Schuylkill

Heavyweight crew heads to warmer waters in San Diego Recent weather conditions in Philadelphia have been less than desirable for rowing on the Schuylkill River, but temperatures in San Diego will be a pleasant change for the men's heavyweight crew team this weekend. The men travel to California to compete in the San Diego Classic tomorrow, and if all goes well, they will advance to the finals Sunday. Two of the four varsity boats will enter the competition with one common goal in mind -- to win their respective races. One of the team's biggest strengths, according to Bergman, is the "strong competition within the team," which pushes each rower to his best performance and ultimately carries over to the team's overall determination to defeat all of its opponents. The competition is always challenging at the Classic, but Penn is prepared to dominate teams such as Harvard, Washington and Temple that finished ahead of them last year. Although the heavyweights will miss the efforts of junior Caspar Bentinck, who has recently undergone back surgery, they suffer from very few serious injuries -- a promising sign for the team. – Heather Reardon Lightweight team to battle Navy for the Callow Cup Every collegiate crew in America has its dreams of racing at Nationals. For teams in the East, the ticket to Nationals is winning the Eastern Sprints, the championships with the deepest, most talented crews in the nation. For the Penn lightweight men's crew team, placing at Sprints would be the ultimate achievement. "We've done a tremendous amount of work," Quakers coach Bruce Konopka said. "Everyone is very conscientious. We want to medal at Sprints." Penn senior co-captain Justin Zacks shares Konopka's optimism. "Our hopes are really high," Zacks said. "We're expected to do very well." Last fall, the varsity squad went 3-3, while the freshmen were perfect except at the Head of the Schuylkill regatta. Included in the varsity's defeats were two at the hands of Navy, who the Quakers will take on tomorrow for the Callow Cup at Penn's home course on the Schuylkill. The Quakes will attempt to repeat its win over the Midshipmen last year, which garnered Penn the Cup. Navy's crew has placed consistently at Sprints over the past few years and is expected to be in the finals again this year. "They're a really tough opponent," Konopka said. "It should give us a good indication of where we are and what we have to do for the rest of the season." "It'll be a good tune-up. It will tell us where we're at," Zacks said. "The varsity has to prove that [beating them] last year wasn't a fluke." The challenge for the lightweight team is to move out of the middle of the pack and rise to the top in the East. – Justina Yee