Tampa wasn't about sunbathing for M. Crew

Penn men's crew made the New Year's resolution to work hard this winter. What were your New Year's resolutions? Did they involve ergometers? Seat races? Training in Tampa? How about inclement weather or blistered hands? These were the conditions that the Penn men's crew team faced as they began their annual winter training in Tampa, Fla. -- as most people were sitting down to watch college football bowl games January 1. The 11-day training session inaugurated the second half of the crew season, as the teams began their preparation for the regattas in the spring. It was a time to perfect technique and come together as a team and as individual boat crews. Days usually began early and focused entirely on rowing. With high expectations, Tampa was the teams which Penn faced off against were considered top-not opponents. "Winter training was positive because a lot of people made improvements because of Coach Bergman's training," senior captain Joe Swift said. "With so many guys, coach needs to look at many things to pick the best, so the training has been competitive." Many of the oarsmen on last year's freshman squad that raced in the Henley Regatta -- a prestigious English regatta -- have spent the off-season working out day-and-night. They are currently challenging for varsity seats. "The sophomore class is a big help," junior Garrett Miller said. "I expect a few of them in the varsity boat." As tough as the competition was among the freshmen team, the lightweights rivalry was equally intense. "This year we seat-raced every day," sophomore Ben Goldman said. "We made progress toward putting together boats." The teams returned to campus Sunday, January 11 this year, a day later than usual. Practices continued on ergs, complemented with stadium running and circuit lifting in preparation for a rigorous stretch of competition. Penn's Ivy League schedule normally hosts some of the finest crew teams in the nation. Senior commodore Matt Guerrieri lists Princeton, Harvard, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Washington are amongst some of the best teams the Quakers are expecting to compete against at the Eastern Sprints and the IRA. "Princeton and Yale are really threatening," Goldman said. "But we have a legitimate shot. I don't think there is any school that can be in better shape." This Friday marks another annual marker of the racing season as the crews return to the water looking to improve blade technique before the initial San Diego Crew Classic race April 3-5.