“It’s game on at this point.” An enthusiastic Colin Farrell, head coach of the men’s lightweight crew program, was optimistic about the coming season after Penn rowing made a statement this morning at its first regatta of the year. Ideal conditions on the mighty Schuylkill found both the women’s and lightweight men’s 1V (or “A-team”) hulls finishing first at the annual Navy Day Regatta in a field that included Delaware, Temple, Drexel and the Naval Academy. The women’s team’s fastest eight-sweep (one coxswain and eight rowers, one oar apiece) crossed the finish line in 14:21.77, an impressive time for the lengthy 5000-meter race.

Penn men’s heavyweight and lightweight rowing competed at the IRA National Championship Regatta on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

Classes may have ended, but some students are facing finals of a very different variety. With the season coming to a close, Penn rowing has been competing in a host of monumentally important events, notching impressive results along the way.

Last one, fast one. In their final cup race of the year, Penn heavyweight rowing is headed to Ithaca to take on Ancient Eight rivals Cornell and Dartmouth.

Let’s take a second. Or three. This past weekend, all three Penn rowing teams finished in second place.

A four-year rower in the Varsity 8, a two-time CRCA National Scholar Athlete, a two-time first-team CRCA All-Region and a Rhodes Scholar all sit in the same boat.

Penn women's rowing tested its limits this weekend, and they did not come away empty handed. While in action at the Clemson Invitational in South Carolina, the Quakers secured the Class of '89 Plaque for only the third time in program history.

In a sport where times are of the utmost importance, it makes teams easy to rank, and as a result, rankings tend to hold. For the heavyweights, that characteristic of the sport worked two ways.

In a sport so focused on, quite literally, getting ahead of the competition, Penn women’s rowing coach Wesley Ng has somewhat of an odd philosophy. “We're making sure we're not looking ahead, ever.” For Ng's squad, process comes first, and, for the meantime, racing second.

They say sports serves as the world’s language - a way to cross international boundaries with ease.

2015 saw plenty of action in and out of the water for Penn rowing for all three teams. One of the three head coaches oversaw his first spring season at the helm.

I’ll go call my crew, and you go call yours. For the Quakers, that crew is growing, and on the women’s side, looking better than ever.

Tupac Shakur once noted, “Things changed, and thats the way it is” Things may never be the same for Penn heavyweight rowing, as the program has undergone a near-complete overhaul of the coaching staff. 

Opening day is meant for mistakes. It’s a chance to find errors and correct them. But for Penn women’s rowing, no errors could be found. The Quakers cleaned up in all four races this Saturday against visiting squads from Boston College and St.

When it comes down to medal count, Penn rowing certainly did not miss the boat.

One vacancy filled, one to go. Five weeks after women's rowing coach Mike Lane's contract was not renewed, Penn Athletics announced Monday that it has hired former Trinity coach Wesley Ng to take the program's helm.

To the unknowing passersby, the wet heat and high pitched buzzing emanating from the stairwell was indicative of a boiler room on overdrive.