Women's Crew freezes opposition at Philly's Frostbite Regatta

This fall season, the Penn women's crew team proved themselves a force to be reckoned with.

"The best part of the season was the development of the team, integrating sophomores into the varsity squad, unifying our technique," Penn coach Barb Kirch said, "and of course, winning lots of races."

Throughout the season, the Quakers consistently placed well and even captured first place on two different occasions.

The Quakers rowed to their first victory of the season in the Navy Day Regatta where they met with competition from Navy and Temple, among others.

Last Saturday, the Quakers finished out the season with a strong performance at Philadelphia's Frostbite Regatta where they swept first place, finishing ahead of the competition in four out of five events.

This season has been one of ups and downs for the Red and Blue, but ultimately Coach Kirch is proud of their record.

"I think we had very solid race performances while developing one team style," Kirch said.

While the Quakers started out strong at the Navy Day Regatta, they did not fare so well in their second race.

"[Our team] under-perfomed," Kirch said. "The race was good, but not where we'd like to be." Even so, it was an improvement on last year's showing in which the Quakers were handed a 60-second penalty for colliding with a Cornell boat under one of the bridges.

At the Princeton Chase the following week, the Quakers turned out an impressive performance, finishing just 55 seconds out of the lead.

"I'm pleased with the changes that they made from one week to the next. They knew they were capable of a better performance, and they concentrated on achieving that every stroke of the race," Kirch said.

Even though the team is largley comprised of sophomores new to the varsity rowing program, the Quakers have fared extremely well this season. In every race thus far, the Quakers have improved on last year's times.

Kirch attributes the team's success to the Quakers' healthy in-house rivalry and the intensity of their training. Throughout the off-season, the Quakers plan to continue training and focus on improving their strength and stamina.

The Quakers are looking to capitalize on the success of this season and their winter conditiong to carry them into the ultra-competitive spring season.

"[Our performance this fall] bodes well for the spring. We still have a lot of conditioning to do, but we have laid a nice foundation."

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