W. Crew five seconds too slow for the Connell Cup

The Penn women's crew boat finished just five seconds behind Yale's time of 7 minutes, 34.8 seconds. While the sunshine and warm temperatures made boathouse row an ideal place for Skimmer last weekend, conditions on the Schuylkill River weren't quite so placid. The choppy waters and heavy winds posed challenges for the Penn women's crew team. Competing for the Connell Cup against Columbia and Yale, the Quakers navigated through the turbulent conditions en route to a second-place finish in the Varsity Eight. The Quakers time of 7 minutes, 39.8 seconds was five seconds behind Yale. "They handled the water better than we expected," Penn rower Loren Berman said. "They rowed cleanly while we had some trouble." The race was competitive the whole way, resulting in five second differentials among each of the three finishing teams. While Columbia began with a slight lead, it quickly surrendered, making for a close contest until the end. As the finish neared, Penn could not stay with Yale in its pursuit of first place. While finishing second was a disappointment to the Penn rowers, it was an improvement over last year's performance among the same competitors. "We were just happy to be in there," Berman said. "We had a competitive race, and that was much better than last year." Strategically, the Quakers had a home course advantage in preparing for and competing on the Schuylkill. Unfortunately, there was little fan support. The busloads of Penn students going to Skimmer did not arrive on the scene until late in the afternoon, long after the race had ended. According to Berman, though, Skimmer-goers may not have been the most attentive spectators. In fact, she mentioned that some rowers were glad to have been spared the distraction of the rowdy bunch. "It's nice to have fans," Berman said, "but only if they're excited about you, not getting drunk by the river." The Connell Cup was the second race of the Quakers' spring season. Penn coach Barb Kirch used the first race against Navy as a trial to help her formulate the fastest lineups. The success of the varsity and junior varsity boats speaks well of the combinations she chose. The Quakers' JV boat's time of 8:04.8 was just one second behind Yale. Columbia followed with a time of 8:10.8 The novice team continued its success as well. The two Quaker boats took first place as they did against Navy, finishing in 8:16.9 and 8:28.8, respectively. The Quakers will compete against Yale and Columbia again this season at Eastern Sprints, one of the year's most important competitions. Until then, they hope to improve with upcoming races, beginning this weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic.