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The Daily Pennsylvanian

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.

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By Greg Robinov · April 18, 2016

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 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.


First-year women's rowing head coach Wesley Ng won a pair of national titles at Division-III Trinity, and he plans to similarly change the culture for a Quakers' squad seeking its first-ever Ivy League championship.

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.



Penn women's rowing had an entirely different look at the top in 2015, but with new coach Wesley Ng and new recruits, they are ready to go for 2016.

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.




Penn women's rowing swept its opening weekend at home, eclipsing Saint Joseph's and Boston College.

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.






Heavyweight Rowing

As the men’s heavyweight rowing team approaches the end of their season, the Red and Blue will be working to collect a pair of wins this weekend at the Adams Cup in Annapolis, MD.  Facing off against Harvard and Navy throughout the event, the heavyweights must maintain their dominant form exhibited last weekend in their convincing performance at the Blackwell Cup.


Heavyweight rowing coxswain Louis Lombardi plays an integral role in the Quakers' success despite never touching an oar A coxswain before he even arrived at Penn, Lombardi is responsible for keeping the rowers in synch and on track.

Betraying its graceful appearance, rowing is a sport of force, finesse and teamwork. In the fastest of boats, the eights, the intricacies of the sport require a ninth man who steers—both literally and psychologically—the vehicle as it cruises forward.


Over the weekend in the Wood-Hammond Cup, Penn lightweight rowing could not keep up with the crews from Princeton and MIT on the Schuylkill, capturing just one win on Saturday's races.

During Spring Fling weekend, Penn’s lightweights went down. The Red and Blue’s rowing squad came up short in two separate events on Saturday, finishing second to Princeton in the Wood-Hammond Cup before falling to MIT in another race later in the day. The Wood-Hammond Cup — held early Saturday morning in ideal rowing weather on the Schuylkill River — pitted the Quakers against Princeton and guest participant Georgetown. Although Penn did manage to win the event’s first race at fourth varsity, it was its only victory of the day.




The Daily Pennsylvanian

Saturday proved to feature the first choppy waters of the season for Penn women’s rowing. The annual Connell Cup race saw Penn lose out to Yale and Columbia in the varsity eight race on the Schuylkill on Saturday. The race, originally scheduled to be held on Columbia’s training grounds in Overpeck Park in New Jersey, had to be moved to the Schuylkill due to excessive ice.




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