Harvard rows right by Hwt. Crew

Last Saturday's Adams Cup featured preseason favorite Harvard on the Schuylkill, destroying the competition by winning all but one race.

The Penn's men heavyweight crew team could salvage one second-place finish in the first varsity eight race, but finished behind both Harvard and Navy in the remaining boats.

Although it is early in the season, Saturday's races clearly showed Harvard as the team to beat.

"Obviously, we were disappointed in the outcome. We brought out a real tough race," Penn coach Stan Bergmann said. "Harvard was the better crew on Saturday."

The races started out with the Crimson jumping out to a quick lead and lengthening it throughout the race, leaving the Quakers and the Midshipmen to battle for second.

"We raced hard. We raced pretty fast, but Harvard just raced faster," Penn junior Duncan Hansing, who rows seven feet, said.

In the first varsity eight Penn finished with a 5:49.17 time behind Harvard's 5:42.07 but in front of Navy's 5:53.7 finish.

The second, third, and freshman varsity boats rowed hard in close pursuit behind Navy and Harvard, but each came out last.

"Harvard got the lead and gradually pulled away," Bergmann said. "All coaches have to get to a rate speed and maintain that.

"We did, but our rate speed wasn't as fast as Harvard's."

In the second varsity eight, the Red and Blue rowed to a 6:03.4 finish. The third varsity finished with a 6:08.16 time, while the first freshman boat paddled to the end in 6:01.0. The second freshman boat was unable to stick with Harvard's A and B crews with a 7:19.51 time.

But it is early in the season and the Quakers still have much to prove in future races. According to Bergmann, the work ethic is there, but the team just needs to get faster.

"Our guys fought hard. We have to keep together and try to get faster," Bergmann said. "I'm pleased with the effort from the guys."

The Quakers feel they are far from their potential and can improve physically and mentally.

"We still have the technical aspects to work out," Hansing said. "We definitely need to work on more intensity."

The kinks will need to be rowed out for the Red and Blue to flash first at the finish line, but Bergmann feels the team is almost there.

"We have to get better on blade work and our catch timing, two things that will give us speed," Bergmann said. "If you get exactly together, it's going to average out at better boat speeds moving together and being in sync.

"We're not far off. We're pretty close to what we're capable of doing."

The team agrees that they have not yet ascended to its peak, but hope to reach that potential when it really counts.

"We have a lot of speed to find. We have a lot of speed we haven't shown," Hansing said. "We still have a couple weeks until we peak."

The Quakers will head back into action this Saturday versus another crew powerhouse, Princeton, along with Brown on the foreign waters in Princeton, N.J. They will be eager for redemption and hope to rebound from Saturday's disappointment.

"We're in good shape and we have to continue to stick together," Bergmann said. "We can't let an early race get us down. We have to get up and fight."

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