After managing somewhat rough waters last fall, the Penn heavyweight crew team will look for smoother rowing in the spring season. Penn coach Stan Bergman has assembled a veteran varsity eight, which will debut this coming weekend at the Windermere Invitational, hosted by Stanford University.
The trip out west will be "a great preseason time to see how we are going," Bergman said.
Bergman will turn to a boat with five seniors, three juniors, and one sophomore, James Lederman, who will sit in the stroke seat -- the seat that determines the pace of rowing.
"The [senior] leadership is real good this year," Bergman said.
He was quick to dispel any notion that Lederman is not yet ready for the pressure of leading the other seven rowers against the nation's top collegiate programs.
"He's got good rhythm, and I think he's the type of guy who can handle the race-day experience," Bergman said of his stroke. "So we are going to take a good look at him and give him a shot."
Hoby Stuart will be one of the Quakers' most important seniors this year. He will sit in the six seat and provide much of the power for the Red and Blue.
"Right now we are just putting down a solid base for technique," Stuart said of the team's preseason preparations. "It's a sport where technique can win or lose for you."
"We're just focusing right now on the technique in the hopes of being slicker than the competition," he added.
Stuart also emphasized that team chemistry would be a key to success this spring.
"It's something that takes a long time," Stuart said. "We haven't been tested yet.
"You get eight guys all of different builds and you have to find the combination that works the best."
Part of that chemistry will be the inclusion of Lederman at stroke, a decision with which Stuart has no problems.
Lederman "put forth his best performance at stroke seat and the other guys that are in contention for [the seat] are good in other seats, if not better," Stuart said.
The "older guys can just honk on it and really put [their] muscles to work."
The team will compete in seven regattas this season, including this weekend's tune-up race. On April 12, the team will head to Princeton, N.J., to contest the Childs Cup, which began in 1870, against bitter rivals Princeton and Columbia.
One week later, the team will race in the Blackwell Cup in New York, N.Y., against Columbia and Yale. The Quakers will conclude their April slate in Annapolis, where they will compete against Harvard and Navy for the Adams Cup.
Despite exams ending in early May, the team will have a full slate even after most students have left for the summer. On May 11, the Red and Blue will compete in the prestigious Eastern Sprints, the winner of which gets to race at the Henley Regatta in England, arguably the world's most prestigious rowing championship.
Henley is "the end-all and be-all of what rowing is," Stuart said.
After that, Penn will compete in the Burk Cup against Northeastern in Boston, Mass., May 17, then return to Philadelphia for its only regatta of the year on the Schuylkill river, the Madiera Cup May 24, versus Cornell.
The season will conclude May 29 at the IRA Championships on the Cooper River in New Jersey.
