SEASON REVIEW: Crew teams used fall to improve for spring

Bergman's first season as head of the program has come to an end. The Penn crew teams finished their fall seasons this past weekend at the Princeton Chase, concluding what was their version of "spring training." This marked the end of Stan Bergman's first season as the head coach of all three divisions of the crew teamE-- men's heavyweight, men's lightweight and women's. In previous years, the Quakers had separate coaches all three teams. But after former women's crew coach Carol Bower resigned earlier this semester amid criticism from her rowers, the athletic department decided to implement the current system that has Bergman in control of the entire boathouse. Each team now has an assistant coach, though, who oversees the individual program. Bergman seemed to take well to his new role, as the Quakers were competitive in each of their three fall events, the Head-of-the-Schuylkill Regatta, which they hosted. Penn's biggest win of the year was the men's freshman boat topping Princeton three weeks ago at the Head-of-the-Schuylkill Regatta. But, since the spring season is what the Quakers train for, placing well in the fall is not a high priority. Improving and coming together as a team is the main goal. "The fall season went very well," Bergman said. "Each of the squads improved. In the fall, we try to improve on three things -- technique, being mentally strong and working as a team, and we were able to do each." The team is hoping that the improvement shown is just the first step in repeating last year's success, when the men's heavyweight and lightweight teams reached the nationals, where the heavyweight boat finished in second place. "With continued hard work, we are looking for even greater improvement on last season," Bergman said. "A lot of our success will come from commitment to training and team goals. Our goals for each of the squads is to win the Eastern Sprints and the nationals."