More time in the water for new W. Crew coach

Chances are that the ice in Hanover, N.H., will eventually melt after this winter. But new Penn women's crew coach Barb Kirsch won't have to wait for it this year. Leaving a successful Dartmouth program behind, Kirsch moved back to West Philadelphia to begin coaching at her alma mater. "I'm interested in getting back into a city environment," Kirsch said. "It's someplace a little more active than Hanover." Kirsch becomes the third women's coach in three years, following Angie Herron last season and Carol Bower the year before. Signed to a multi-year contract, it is apparent that the Athletic Department is looking to create some stability in a program that was rocked by a rift between members of the crew and Bower. Following a team meeting with Athletic Director Steve Bilsky, when the crew expressed its displeasure with Bower, the coach resigned and was replaced with Herron. Kirsch is coming from Dartmouth, where she did a nine-year stint as head coach, highlighted by bronze medals at the 1996 and 1997 Eastern Sprints. Her squad earned a bid to the NCAA Championships this past spring as well. "Getting Dartmouth to the level that I did -- two medals in a row -- is a challenging thing. But it's a lot of work, as it is anywhere. But I had the sense that that was as far as I was going to take that program," Kirsch said. Practices are set to start on Monday, after Kirsch met most of the freshmen early this week and met with the varsity crew last night. "The issue is how serious [the team] is in wanting the program to succeed," Kirsch said. "And they've given me an indication that they want that to happen. And that is what got me here more than anything else. "I would not have taken the job last year under those terms." Kirsch's philosophy puts individual experience ahead of team success. "The first thing we're going to do is talk about where we're going," Kirsch said. "I'm not going to talk about winning the [Eastern] Sprints this year -- we're going to talk about the experiences they have along the way, about the experiences they have as individuals. "My commitment is that they learn something personally throughout the year. And my belief is that if they're learning, they're going to succeed. And that level of success will be determined by the ability level of the group than by desire or work ethic or anything like that." With this move, Kirsch says she will have a larger recruiting base as well as improved facilities, including the recently renovated boathouse. "It's a bigger program here and there are more students on campus," Kirsch said. "And you've got water here year-round."

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