On Sunday, the Penn women's crew team will travel to Boston to compete in the Head of the Charles Regatta.
The one-day rowing festival is an annual event, and with good reason, is touted as America's premier fall regatta.
More than 7,000 athletes in more than 1,450 boats will race down the three-mile course on Boston's Charles River. An expected 300,000 fans will be also be on hand to support them.
Competitors include national teams from more than 17 countries, including the defending champions in the Women's Championship Eight, the U.S. National team.
And in the midst of all this hoopla, the Quakers will also race. Still, Penn is not fazed.
"We have some really good depth," Penn coach Barb Kirch said.
Entering its 38th year, this year's list of competitors is as impressive as it has ever been.
In addition to the international boats, a host of collegiate crews will be in attendance as well, including Ivy rivals Princeton, Yale and Brown.
In 2000 the Princeton crew won the Women's Championship Eight, while last year they finished second, just behind the U.S. National team.
In such a talented field, the Quakers will be hoping to capitalize on their depth on Sunday in Boston.
Because the Quakers have entered the Championship Eight and Fours, they can only send 12 rowers and 2 coxswains.
Kirch has chosen a small and select group of rowers to represent the Red and Blue at the Head of the Charles. She is looking for her crews to perform even better than they did last weekend at the Navy Day Regatta.
At the Navy Day Regatta the Quakers captured first in three out of four events. They beat Rutgers, Lehigh and Navy, all of whom will be at the Head of the Charles.
While Kirch's team may not have any real shot of winning the event, she is still expecting her team to keep pace with the other Eastern Sprint squads in the event.
We want to "race hard," Kirch said. "Because we expect to be competitive with the crew in [our league]."
Many of these crews are the same crews that the Quakers will face again in the Spring in their bid to make the National Tournament.
Last year at the Head of the Charles, the Quakers fared reasonably well, competing in the Championship Fours. They started out strong, but after an untimely collision with a Cornell boat under one of the bridges, Penn was given a 60-second penalty.
Had they avoided this mishap the Quakers time may have been good enough for a silver medal.
