On Saturday, the Schuylkill River will be the site of the Penn and Georgetown heavyweight crew teams, racing to the finish of the 2,000-meter sprint.
The Quakers open their spring season looking towards a strong start and a major improvement from Penn's fall season, which produced mixed results.
"Like any sport, we can't underestimate Georgetown," Penn senior captain Mike Parker said.
In last year's spring season, the Quakers went 6-2 in the spring cup races, finished fifth out of 15 teams in the Eastern Springs and placed ninth in the IRA championships -- the national crew championships.
During the fall season, the Quakers were up and down, placing second in the Navy Day Regatta and 20th in the Head of the Charles. However, they rebounded to second-place finishes at the Head of the Schuylkill and the final fall race, the Frostbite Regatta.
"We don't look back on the results of the fall. The biggest emphasis is spring," Parker said. "We just approached fall with a training perspective to carry us forward to the spring season."
The fall season wasn't the only training for the important spring season, which consists of the two biggest races of the year -- the Eastern Sprints and the IRA Championships.
After the fall season, the Red and Blue headed down to Tampa, Fla., for winter training camp. This year's training has been more time consuming and rigorous for the rowers.
"The biggest change [from last season] is that we've put in more hours," Parker said. "There's a machine that shows our progress. Individually everyone has been faster than ever. The key is to put that to the water.
"Spring training is to set up a lineup and establish that lineup to see if we can gel."
Another advantage for the rowers is experience. In Penn's eight-man varsity boat, the Quakers return five rowers, four of which are seniors with at least three years on the varsity level.
Although Saturday's race against Georgetown is a small indicator of the Red and Blue's season, they will look to build on this weekend's racing experience to fulfill long-term goals.
"We definitely train to be the fastest crew in the country," Parker said. "Things are going well, but we need to put it all together.
"We need to attack each week after week."
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