Hwt. Crew places third at Copley Cup in San Diego

The Penn men's heavyweight crew team set out to California with the intention of winning the San Diego Classic this weekend. Although the Quakers did not place first in the regatta, they certainly did prove they can compete with any of the strongest crews in the nation. After finishing second behind the Washington in their heat on Saturday, the Quakers went on to compete in the finals of the Copley Cup. The first varsity boat placed third out of 12 competitors -- an improvement over last year's fourth place. Despite heavy winds on Mission Bay, Penn was able to finish with a respectable time of 6 minutes, 17.41 seconds, only nine seconds off the winning time. "It was our first race, and I was pleased with our performance," Quakers captain Hardy Viener said. "We proved we have a lot of speed and now it is just a matter of fine-tuning to maximize that speed." Led by coxwain Hope Varney and stroke Tom Rymes, the crew looks forward to racing the top two finishers of the Copley Cup -- Washington and Harvard -- in the near future. Viener is confident in the team's ability to match up against Harvard's powerful crew at the Adams Cup on April 27, as well as Washington's boat at the IRA Championships on May 30. "Washington is always good in the beginning of the season, but what they do now isn't what happens down the line," Viener stated. While the first boat was generally pleased with the outcome of this weekend's race, coxwain Rob Blumhof was less enthusiastic about his boat's performance. After taking third in its heat on Saturday, the No. 2 varsity boat placed fifth out of 11 crews with a time of 6:43.20 on Sunday. While that was not a poor performance, the team was disappointed to not place higher than last year's third-place finish. "Saturday's race was absolutely horrible," Blumhof said. "We had a better row on Sunday, but we still have a lot of work to do to get ready for Princeton." Both the first and second boats will see the Tigers again at the Childs Cup, the oldest regatta in the country, on the Schuylkill River on April 13. A victory against Princeton will indicate to Harvard and Washington that Penn's heavyweight crew team is not one to be taken lightly.