He made his first team as a Penn sophomore, winning a silver medal in the eight in the 1988 World Championships held in Milan, Italy. Since then, Pfaendtner has competed in five more world championships, been a spare one other year, and won a silver in the quad in the 1995 Pan Am Games. He likely would have made the '88 or '92 teams, only lightweight rowing was not an Olympic event then. In lightweight races, oarsmen must weigh under 160 lbs. and meet a boat average of 155 lbs. This changes the competition considerably.
Size is taken out of the equation, since everyone is roughly the same height and weight.
The athletes' precision and conditioning become even more crucial, and a new dimension is added. Pfaendtner predicts tough competition from the European boats. They put a lot of money into developing their athletes. In the U.S., lightweights take a backseat to heavyweight rowing. Americans always like bigger and faster.