Now finally unfrozen and ready to bear the paddles of some of the toughest teams in the East, the Charles River will serve as host to the Penn women's crew team this weekend, along with Brown and Radcliffe.
The Quakers have some advantages that could help propel them to a few wins this Saturday.
Penn has more experience this season than Radcliffe -- who, after having its first competition postponed because of the frozen Charles, is commencing its spring schedule this weekend.
"Not only are these teams going to challenge us, but... the course [is also] known for having tough racing conditions," junior Susan Francia said.
Meanwhile, Brown is just recovering from its first loss of the season to Princeton last weekend -- its first loss in dual competition since 1997.
The Bears finished ahead of many teams, including the Tigers, at last year's NCAA Championships en route to their third national title.
Despite their early-season loss, the Bears first and second varsity teams both boasted a 9-0 record in the 2002 season. Brown has posted an impressive 53-20 Ivy record since 1984, when current coach John Murphy began his tenure.
The Quakers -- still flustered from last weekend's collision with the Yale varsity boat -- are striving to refocus on the competition this weekend.
Francia, the seventh seat on the varsity boat, is still feeling the repercussions from being in the same boat as Emily Davis -- the Penn junior who faced minor injuries. Davis will race this weekend, however, and Francia has an optimistic outlook for the future of the season.
"We're ready to go out there and kill -- show them what we're all about and how strong our team is together," she said.
The Quakers, having already left Navy and Georgetown in their wake early in the season, feel their preparedness and ability to work well together are the team's strongest assets.
"We have an amazing team, and we're looking to do well this weekend, after switching up the lineup a bit," junior coxswain Jessie Reich said. "We're on top of our fitness as well as our psychological and emotional outlooks."
"We're going to ante up the power and show them what we're all about," Francia said.
When asked how they were to prepare for the weekend, Francia and her Penn teammates swore by their bold mantra.
"This is gonna hurt, but nothing like the pain of failure."
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