Penn grad student earns bronze at Olympic Games

When Jeff Pfaendtner started rowing at the age of nine, he probably didn't think he would be standing on the medal stand at the Olympic Games 22 years later. But that is exactly where the Penn grad found himself this summer after taking third place in the 2,000-meter lightweight straight quad race in Atlanta. The bronze medal was one of two medals won by the U.S. men's lightweight squad at the centennial Games. Pfaendtner rowed for the Quakers as an undergraduate and for the U.S. national team since his junior year in 1989. Currently, he is a materials science and engineering Ph.D candidate at Penn. He has had to put his work on hold temporarily to train and compete in the Olympics. "To do rowing at the international level and graduate work at Penn is an extraordinary achievement," said Charles McMahon, a professor who works with Pfaendtner on his research. McMahon was able to attend the Olympic Games and watch Pfaendtner in one of the qualifying heats. The U.S. boat finished a disappointing second to Canada in the heat, but enabled the rowers to compete in an extra qualifying heat. As this was the first time the four U.S. rowers had competed together, the extra heat proved useful in preparing for the final. "It was an amazing spectacle," McMahon said of his trip to the Games. "To medal was all you could really ask for. They were within a boat length of the gold medal. It's really a tremendous achievement. On another day, they could have come out on top." Penn's heavyweight rowing program under coach Stan Bergman played a major part in Pfaendtner's climb to the national team. He was not recruited by Penn, but established himself right away on the freshman squad. He made the varsity boat his sophomore year and continued rowing in the first boat until he graduated. The transition to the national team was not an easy one. As a Quaker, Pfaendtner was a heavyweight rower at his natural weight of 180 pounds. But on the national level, he was not big enough to row in the heavyweight division. That meant he had to lose about 20 pounds to weigh in under 160 and meet the boat average of 155. At 6-foot-1, that was no simple task for Pfaendtner. After dieting and losing the weight, he joined the team. He has won two World Championship silver medals since 1989, but never competed in the Olympics until this year. This is the first year in which lightweight crew has been an official Olympic sport. In previous Olympics, only heavyweight races have been contested. As Pfaendtner returns with his medal, he must continue the research he put on hold in November. He is now putting rowing on the back burner for the meantime in order to finish his Ph.D. thesis this year. "He's committed to finishing his thesis as fast as possible," McMahon said. "His training slows it down, but it doesn't hurt the quality."