The Penn crew teams emerged from Saturday's wild Navy Day Regatta both content and hungry.
Victories by both the men's and women's freshman eights, as well as the women's four, showed great promise for the future, while close second and third-place finishes for Penn's other boats left them chomping at the bit for redemption in the remaining fall races.
The men's and women's heavyweight fours hit the water first, with the women pulling to a decisive victory in a time of 16:54.7. The men came hard out of the gates as well, placing second by only five seconds to Navy with a time of 15:07.8.
As the skies darkened over the Schuylkill River and the wind began to howl, the freshman and junior varsity boats hit the water with a fury. Coming through the first bridge, choppy waves and mist nearly clouded the boats from view. By the final turn, however, the river smoothed out and Penn's young heavyweight boats powered to the finish line. The freshman men crossed the line in a time of 13:38.6, beating out the next nearest boat by a full 47 seconds.
"It's a good place to build from," said Schuyler Reece, leader of the freshman squad. "We've still got a lot to work on, but we're excited for the Head of the Charles next weekend."
The women's freshman eight captured a win in a time of 16:50.4, and showed equal poise amidst turbulent conditions.
Meanwhile, the men's junior varsity eight, racing at the peak of the brief storm, finished a close second to Navy, losing by eight seconds with a time of 14:06.2. The JV boat was surprised by Navy's cutting of the corner going under the second bridge, a maneuver that would have resulted in a penalty a year ago. Nevertheless, the men were pleased with their overall performance.
"The race was rough at the beginning, but once it cleared up we felt really strong," said sophomore Jason Salerno, who rowed seventh seat in the JV boat. "The endurance work we've put in can really be felt now."
The men's lightweight eight took third place in its race with a finishing time of 14:12. While surely not content with anything but a win, the lightweight boat, which has several sophomores in its seats, looked impressive all-around throughout the day.
As the day progressed, the skies cleared and the sun sliced through the cloud cover for the final race. The men's heavyweight varsity eight and women's varsity eight both pulled admirably, each finishing second in their divisions.
The Penn men lost to Navy, though they looked smooth down the final stretch, finishing in a time of 13:14.1. The women lost a heartbreaker to Navy, losing by nine-tenths of a second with a time of 14:51.8. Although the boats started in a stagger, the women would have theoretically been beaten out by a matter of a few feet.
In the boathouse following the races, the Penn team seemed jubilant about the promising results at the regatta, the first competition of the season. While the many second and third-place finishes were somewhat disappointing, the Quakers are optimistic heading toward the next two major events, this weekend's Head of the Charles in Boston and the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia on Oct. 30.
Junior varsity coxswain T.J. Massey summed up the sense of confidence surrounding the team, as he stated at the end of the day, "Penn is back."
