Heavyweight Crew impressive at Head of Schuylkill

The Penn heavyweight crew team proved last Saturday that the familiar waters of the Schuylkill River are the best place for a bounce-back performance.

With an impressive third place finish at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, the Red and Blue steered its boats back on course after a rough series of races at the Head of Charles the previous weekend.

"This weekend was a big improvement from our performance in Boston," Penn coach Stan Bergman said.

The heavyweight team completed the three-mile race at 12:48.68, a time that put them just behind runners up Navy and champion UTS Rowing Club (Sydney, Australia), who finished at 12:37.76.

Bergman attributes this weekend's success to a shuffling in the order of the crew.

"We changed the lineup around which helped us row at a higher stroke rate," he said.

Just as in Boston, the varsity performances were again offset by the impressive results of the freshman boats. Rookie Nick Munch lead the freshman boat to a third place finish as well -- the second consecutive top-five finish for the Quakers' heavyweight freshman program.

"This was another solid weekend for us," Penn freshman coach Seth Brennan said.

Last week's Regatta marked the close of the heavyweight crew's fall campaign. Following a much-ballyhooed seven-week rest period, the Quakers will begin their demanding winter training program in an effort to ensure that the major spring season doesn't start as slowly as the fall did.

Heavyweight crew began its fall season with a frustrating loss at the Navy Day Regatta, an event that Penn likely should have won.

Opening weekend frustrations were then compounded by dismal results at the Head of the Charles in Boston. Placing 32nd out of just 42 boats, Penn's championship eight boat was beaten by four out of the five other Ivy League boats in the race.

Following their underachievement in the fall season, the break may prove beneficial for the Quakers, as its members will be able to focus on their midterm exams and, at the same time, make the Head of the Charles and Navy Day regattas distant memories.

"I think we really need the rest right now -- this winter is going to be tough," Bergman said.

Like Bergman, the heavyweight crew team recognizes that there is still much work to be done if the team is to place where it is capable of in the spring.

The photo for this article depicts last year's team instead of this year's.

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