After turbulent year, Bower resigns as W. Crew coach

Bower's nine-year tenure ended with rowers calling for her resignation After nine years as the coach of the Penn women's crew team, Carol Bower -- whose team accused her of being ineffective and asked for her resignation in November of 1995 -- resigned effective August 31, Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said. Bower's resignation comes after a tumultuous fall season and a spring season in which she did not fully participate in the team's day-to-day operations. Bower, however, said she did not necessarily resign in reaction to last year's criticism. "I took the whole nine years into account," she said. "You always get criticism throughout the years." Under Bower's tenure, Penn failed to finish above fifth place in its league's regional championships. Bower -- a 1984 Olympic gold medalist and a coach at the 1988 Olympic Games and world rowing championships -- said she was ready "to move on." "I think nine years is a long time in one place," Bower said, adding she "had done all that I can for Penn. "It's my time to leave and let somebody new take over," she said. Among the team's complaints this past year was Bower's delaying the arrival of the varsity boats at last fall's Frostbite Regatta on the Schuylkill River. Calling that incident "the last straw" in its relationship with the coach, the team said Bower caused the varsity squad to miss its races. Team members met with Bilsky on Nov. 14, 1995 to discuss their concerns and ask for Bower's resignation. The team then released a statement on Dec. 10, 1995, which said the team had lost "the little respect" it had for Bower and described working with Bower "impossible." According to a letter to the editor in the April X issue of The Daily Pennsylvanian from then-junior Marta Glazier, Bower was relegated to a minimal role with the team last spring. But Bilsky did not link the team's protest to Bower's resignation. "I think she came to the conclusion that it probably was better for her and the program to move on to something else that she wanted to do," he said. Bilsky added that he did not "think there was any one thing" that caused Bower to resign. Bilsky said Bower's position has not yet been officially filled and the new coach's name will be announced later this week. Senior Meera Bhatia, a member of the women's crew team in 1995, said she had mixed feelings about Bower's resignation. "I will miss her as a person," said Bhatia, who explained that she enjoyed a "close relationship" with her coach. But Bhatia also noted that the coaching move should benefit the team. "I'm really excited about changes for the program," she said. Bower has decided to pursue a master's degree in the College's dynamics of organization program. She plans to remain involved with rowing programs outside of Penn. "I'm certainly leaving my options open," Bower said. "I've been invited out to other locations?I'm open to whatever comes up."

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