The Penn rowing program saw the end of an era last weekend. It also may have begun a new one.
At the IRA Regatta in Camden, N.J. -- heavyweight coach Stan Bergman's last official competition -- the freshman 8 wrapped up a stellar season with a third-place finish, while the varsity 8 finished 12th overall and the lightweight varsity 8 took ninth.
The third-seeded freshman 8 finished slightly behind Washington and California, but ahead of Ivy League rivals Princeton and Harvard, who crossed the line in a photo-finish for fourth and fifth, respectively.
"For the freshman I thought things went well, [and] the varsity had their best finish in a couple years, which is encouraging," said Seth Brennan, an assistant coach who leads the freshman team. "On a personal level, it was satisfying to watch the freshman finish as high as they did."
But, he added, with the kind of season that the program's underclassmen have had and the run-up to the IRAs, such a finish was nothing out of the ordinary.
"The freshman did not exceed my expectations. We won our league and we were seeded third, so I think third [place] was about a point of satisfaction."
The lightweight 8 took third place in the Petite Final and ninth overall, with Cornell winning the national title in that event.
In the last season before a major transition is to take place, the potential of the freshman class takes on an added importance.
The program will be under new leadership next season after Bergman, in a move marked by suspicion and controversy, resigned his post after 22 years to take over as Penn's Director of Rowing Affairs. Afterwards, many alumni and supporters of the program accused the Athletic Department of mishandling the situation and essentially forcing Bergman out.
With that negative publicity in the past, though, the search for a successor will take on the spotlight now that the team's competitive season is over.
"I think any new coach coming in is going to look at how the freshman have been doing as an indicator to how the future can go," Brennan said. "The freshman, each of the past few years, have been doing great."
"Coach Bergman and I ... we're both done coaching, so it was an emotional weekend," he added. "I feel like we sent everyone off with the right messages."
