Last weekend, the Penn women's rowing team proved it could compete against the best in the world. The Quakers placed 10th out of 57 teams at the collegiate eight event at the Head of the Charles in Boston, Mass., the largest head race in the world.
The team also finished 17th out of 45 in the championship eights competition. This performance comes a week after the Quakers' incredible performance at the Navy Day Regatta last week, where they beat 13 other teams in the collegiate eights event and had victorious boats in the freshman and junior varsity races, sweeping every event in which they were entered.
"It's definitely a step in the right direction," coach Mike Lane said. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us, but we're very happy with the results of the weekend."
According to the Head of the Charles' Web site, this year's race featured 1,621 boats and over 8,000 rowers, including entries from 15 different nations. This included a boat from China, which, due to visa issues had to find a new Chinese-speaking coxswain the day before the race.
The men's teams also performed well, especially considering the huge size of the event. The lightweight eights finished sixth out of 26 in its event, and one heavyweight team finished 23rd out of 44 boats in the championship eights event. Penn's other boat in that event fared less successfully, finishing last in part due to a one-minute penalty for interference.
The heavyweights' championship four finished ninth out of 18 entrants.
All three Penn teams remain confident about their prospects for league competition in the spring.
"We beat many of the teams that we would normally race in the spring, so it's a good sign," Lane said.
The women's team defeated two league opponents in the championship eights event, while the lightweight and heavyweight teams were victorious over four and one, respectively.
The teams wrap up their fall seasons this weekend, competing in the Head of the Schuylkill on Saturday and the Princeton Chase on Sunday. The Sunday race looks to be especially important, as the Quakers will be competing against all of their spring league opponents.
