Spring Break
Interview with Joseph Palmer, men's crew coach
-Online exclusive-
By: Ethan Greenberg
Issue date: 5/4/07 Section: Sports
Originally published: 5/4/07 at 3:43 PM EST
Last update: 5/7/07 at 11:39 AM EST
Originally published: 5/4/07 at 3:43 PM EST
Last update: 5/7/07 at 11:39 AM EST
The Triangle met with men's crew coach Joseph Palmer to talk about the Bergen cup on April 28 and about the season up the this point.
The Triangle: What was it like racing other local schools, like Temple, St. Joe's and La Salle in the Bergen cup?
Joseph Palmer: Today's race was a true test of character for the Varsity 8. Temple finished ahead of us but they were [disqualified] for going out of their lane to cut the turn at the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. However, at the halfway point we were over a boat length behind St. Joe's, we were roughly four seconds behind.
Then, in the second half of the race our team stayed relaxed and composed and we just chipped away at St. Joe's lead, and we ended up winning by 0.6 seconds. It was a true guy check and the guys came through. When they were down at the half way point they could have packed it in. But we've been working on the second half of the race over the past couple weeks. We wanted to be able to row a crew down if we had to, and we did it today. The Bergen Cup is basically the Philly grudge match, and beating the other local schools is awesome for the program.
T: How would you rate the Drexel crew program compared to these other schools? How did you feel coming into the meet, racing against these teams?
P: I think our crew program is definitely on the level with the other programs in the city. Our athletic department is really supporting our program right now, and we have all the right people doing the right things. This is a new era for the men's crew team. I feel our recruiting class that is coming in this fall is better then the other programs in the city. We worked very hard to sign our recruits that are coming in this upcoming fall. These recruits that are coming in turned down a lot of other offers to come to Drexel, and our future is limitless. Coming into the race I knew Temple was the team to beat, but we also haven't beaten St. Joe's in about 10 years. So beating St. Joe's today, especially in the manner that we did was very gratifying. These schools that we raced today are our city rivals, so anytime you come out on top you have to be happy.
The Triangle: What was it like racing other local schools, like Temple, St. Joe's and La Salle in the Bergen cup?
Joseph Palmer: Today's race was a true test of character for the Varsity 8. Temple finished ahead of us but they were [disqualified] for going out of their lane to cut the turn at the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. However, at the halfway point we were over a boat length behind St. Joe's, we were roughly four seconds behind.
Then, in the second half of the race our team stayed relaxed and composed and we just chipped away at St. Joe's lead, and we ended up winning by 0.6 seconds. It was a true guy check and the guys came through. When they were down at the half way point they could have packed it in. But we've been working on the second half of the race over the past couple weeks. We wanted to be able to row a crew down if we had to, and we did it today. The Bergen Cup is basically the Philly grudge match, and beating the other local schools is awesome for the program.
T: How would you rate the Drexel crew program compared to these other schools? How did you feel coming into the meet, racing against these teams?
P: I think our crew program is definitely on the level with the other programs in the city. Our athletic department is really supporting our program right now, and we have all the right people doing the right things. This is a new era for the men's crew team. I feel our recruiting class that is coming in this fall is better then the other programs in the city. We worked very hard to sign our recruits that are coming in this upcoming fall. These recruits that are coming in turned down a lot of other offers to come to Drexel, and our future is limitless. Coming into the race I knew Temple was the team to beat, but we also haven't beaten St. Joe's in about 10 years. So beating St. Joe's today, especially in the manner that we did was very gratifying. These schools that we raced today are our city rivals, so anytime you come out on top you have to be happy.
