SEAS grad student brings home bronze from Atlanta

Pfaendtner stars in Lightweight crew 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 he was last week after taking third place in the 2000 meter lightweight straight quad race in Atlanta. The bronze was one of two medals won by the U.S. men's lightweight squad at the Centennial Games. Pfaendtner rowed for Penn as a SEAS undergraduate and, since his junior year of 1989, for the U.S. national team. Currently he is a materials science and engineering Ph.D candidate here at Penn. He has had to put his work on hold recently to train and compete in the Olympics. "To do rowing at the international level and graduate work at Penn is an extraordinary achievement," said Professor Charles McMahon 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 second to Canada in the heat, which, although a disappointment, 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 rowing program under coach Stan Bergman played a major part in Pfaendtner's climb to the national team. He was not recruited, 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 from Penn's rowing squad was not an easy one. As a Quaker, Pfaendtner was a heavyweight rower at his natural weight of 175-180 pounds. But on the national level, he was not big enough to row in the heavyweight division. That meant he had to lose around twenty pounds to weigh in under 160 and meet the boat average of 155. At 6-foot-1 this was no simple task for Pfaendtner. After dieting, he lost the weight and joined the team. He has won two World Championship silver medals since 1989, but has never competed in the Olympics until this year. 1996 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. This has been his final race for a while as he hopes to finish his Ph.D thesis in the next year. "He's committed to finishing his thesis as fast as possible," McMahon said. "His training slows it [his research] down, but it doesn't hurt the quality."