The announcement came Friday morning that a successor to heavyweight rowing coach Stan Bergman has finally been found after a long search process. Fred Honebein, a former assistant at Washington and head coach at Oregon State, will take over the program when Bergman's resignation becomes official on July 1.
Honebein will be the first new coach of the team in over two decades. Bergman has served as coach for the past 22 years; he will still be involved in the program, though, as Penn's Director of Rowing Affairs.
"More than anything else, we were looking for someone with distinct leadership qualities, who would motivate our rowers both as students and athletes," said Athletic Director Steve Bilsky in a statement.
Honebein, who was not immediatly available for comment, comes to Penn after having held an wide variety of positions within the world of competitive rowing. A collegiate rower both at Orange Coast College (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and California-Berkeley, he competed professionally on the U.S. Olympic team from 1993-96, winning a World Championship in 1994 and finishing fifth in the 1996 Olympics.
His first collegiate coaching job came at California, where he graduated in 1991, as the women's novice coach for the 1997-98 season.
Afterwards, he left the Bears for Washington, where he served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the men's team for the next six years. The decision to make the move to the east coast comes after a two-year stint as head coach at Oregon State from 2004-06.
Check back later this week for a full story.
