The captain is back on board the boat

Caspar Bentinck is back as the crew captain after missing last year with an injury. As an athlete, one of the greatest honors is to be selected as a team captain by your peers. For Caspar Bentinck, the captain of the Penn men's heavyweight crew team, this honor was especially rewarding. While training for the season during his junior year, Bentinck herniated a disk in his back and was forced to miss the entire season. Rather than get discouraged like so many people would have in such a situation, Bentinck realized that he could still be useful as an assistant to Quakers coach Stan Bergman. He focused his energies on lending support to the team while rehabilitating his back. Bentinck's commitment paid off, as the team named him captain for his senior year. "Being named captain after missing the season was a tribute to Caspar's desire to win," Bergman said. "He is a great kid and a hard worker who deserved the honor of being named captain." In addition to being one of the hardest working member of the crew team, he is also considered one of the most talented. He has been a stroke ahead of his peers ever since his first days of rowing at Ethon College, a prep school in his native England. During his time at Ethon, Bentinck was the only person in his class to make the varsity crew both his junior and senior years. That turned out to be a stroke of luck for the Quakers, since one of the regattas that Ethon competed in was the Henley Royal Regatta, considered the most competitive regatta in the world. That is where Bentinck first encountered Penn, which was also competing in the race. The Quakers won a medal at the Henley, catching Bentinck's attention. When he was recruited by all of the Ivy League, he remembered what he had seen of Penn. When he met Bergman, his decision was clinched. "He is by far the best coach that I've ever had and like a father to me," Bentinck said. "It's not easy being so far from home, so it is nice to have a coach that is always there for you no matter what. It makes things a lot easier." With Bergman's support, Bentinck has continued to excel for the Quakers as he has in the past. He was the only sophomore at Penn to make the heavyweight varsity team two years ago and was named most valuable player of his freshman team the year before. "It was an honor being named MVP freshman year, but in rowing there is really no such thing as a most valuable person," Caspar said. "A team is only as good as its weakest link." That may be true, but having a link as strong as Bentinck sure helps.