Penn's crews fare well on Schuylkill

The men's freshmen team beatThe men's freshmen team beatPrinceton at the Head-of-the-The men's freshmen team beatPrinceton at the Head-of-the-Schuylkill Regatta. This past Saturday, the Penn crew teams reached the mid-point of their fall seasons with an impressive showing at the Head-of-the-Schuylkill Regatta. The Quakers men's freshmen team beat second-place Princeton by six seconds, and the men's lightweight eight and championship eight teams both finished in second place. The women's championship eight team also had a strong showing, coming in fifth in a race with more than 20 teams rowing. This was the second successful regatta that Penn has participated in under its new coaching system. When Carol Bower resigned as head coach of the women's crew program earlier this semester, men's heavyweight coach Stan Bergman took charge of the men's, women's and lightweight teams. The new arrangement also delegates more responsibility to the assistant coaches of all three teams. While Bergman was pleased with the performances of all three of his team, he tried to put the regatta in perspecteive. "It was an overall good performance by the boathouse, but the main purpose of these races is to train and work hard for the races in the spring," Bergman said. Racing in a field that included a number of Olympic rowers, it is easy to understand why the Quakers were pleased with the day's results. While most crews train specifically for one-mile events, like the Head of the Schuylkill, Penn is training for the spring regatta, a three-mile race. "It was a good row after a tough week of practice," Penn men's heavyweight captain Caspar Bentinck said. "We were able to turn it around and have what was probably our best row of the semester." Bentinck also commented on the promise demonstrated by the freshmen rowers. "The freshmen beating Princeton was good to see. It set them up well for the spring," he said.