W. Crew holding its breath for a victory this weekend

Navy and Georgetown come to Philadelphia to contest the Class of '91 Plate. "We have to want to win more than we want to breathe," Penn senior Meera Bhatia said. With this rallying cry, the entire women's rowing program, after many changes from last year, is "excited to race," according to Penn senior co-captain Heather Whalen. To many this may sound like a strange cult, but crew is a sport like no other, which redefines the term team sport. "All of the people are of different backgrounds and types, but once we are in the boat, we come together and think and perform as one," Whalen said. Crew is a year-long sport with a fall season followed by rigorous training throughout the winter. During the off-season, the rowers work on strength and power. "We built a good aerobic and respiratory base for good endurance through the races," Whalen said. In addition to the physical training, the coaching staff has continuously reinforced the mental toughness required for the rowers on and off the water. At this point in the season, Penn assistant coach Angie Heron is preparing the team for "race execution." They have the technique and the physical abilities; they only need to prepare for the intensity of competition. Even though they have a small and young team compared to most of the other schools they will face, the Quakers won't be discouraged. "Being smaller, we get to surprise other teams because we go in as underdogs, but we feed off it," Whalen said. "With the way we've been working, we are expecting a lot." The varsity eight consists of three seniors, one junior and four sophomores. According to Whalen the combination creates a "balance of experience and youth or new spirit in the boat." The Red and Blue's preparation will face its first test this Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Class of '91 Plate on the Schuylkill River against Navy and Georgetown. In the past, Penn usually has beaten Navy. It hopes to continue the success against the Midshipmen this weekend, but Heron isn't taking anything for granted. "I don't believe in looking back and basing success on the past," Heron said. "Rowing is a building over the season." In two weeks, the Quakers will be traveling to California for the San Diego Crew Classic. The regatta will be tough competition for the team because they will be facing some of the fastest teams in the country. Throughout the season, they will continue to race against the other teams in the league in preparation for the Eastern Athletic Women's Rowing Conference Sprints in May. Also, because this is the first year that the NCAA has recognized women's rowing as an official sport, one of the team's long-term goals is to qualify for the NCAA championships. "We are just going to pour everything we have into Saturday morning," Whalen said.