For rowing’s Cole Riedinger, leadership is about responsibility
As captain of Penn’s men’s Heavyweight Rowing program, Cole Reidinger has created a sustainable mentorship network for student athletes.
2 min. read
For fourth-year men’s rower Cole Riedinger, leadership is not about titles. It’s about responsibility.
As a member of the men’s Heavyweight Rowing program, Riedinger has embraced the opportunity to lead both on and off the water. But his journey to that role wasn’t built on natural talent alone.
“When I was recruited to Penn Rowing, I wasn’t the most naturally talented or the fastest athlete in the room,” he says. “But the coach who recruited me saw potential and took a chance on me. I’ve always felt a responsibility to honor that belief through the way I show up every day.”
Leadership, Reidinger says, begins with example.
“In practice, that means operating at my best and helping ‘set the temperature’ rather than reacting to it,” he says. “It means bringing consistency, urgency, and focus—especially on the days when it would be easier not to.”
He views leadership as stewardship—of both culture and standards.
“Leadership is about protecting Penn’s standard of excellence. We hold ourselves to a high bar, and my role is to both uphold that standard and support my teammates as they grow into it. Setting clear goals, creating accountability, and helping individuals see what they’re capable of—that’s what leadership means to me.”
“When I went through recruiting from freshman through senior year, I was struck by how difficult it was to connect with Penn Rowing alumni," he adds. “We have an incredibly accomplished and generous alumni base, but there wasn’t a clear structure in place to connect them with current athletes.”
As captain, he has taken initiative—reaching out through official and informal channels to create a sustainable mentorship network. The result is more than 50 alumni mentors across 15 industries now actively support current athletes with career guidance, recruiting advice, and internship opportunities.
Earlier this fall, the team hosted its first career day, welcoming alumni back to campus to speak directly with athletes.
“It was a meaningful step toward building a stronger professional network within our program,” Riedinger says. “None of this would be possible without the incredible support of our alumni, and we’re deeply grateful for their willingness to invest in the next generation of rowers.”
Penn physicists led by Bo Zhen have created hybrid light-matter particles that interact strongly enough to compute, pointing toward ultrafast, low-energy optical AI hardware.
Penn’s newest supercomputer is transforming research
Penn’s first campus-wide HPC and AI cluster, “Betty,” is expanding access to powerful computing, enabling groundbreaking projects, and fostering new collaborations across disciplines.
A bioengineered bean gum from the lab of Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell is found to reduce the levels of three microbes associated with head and neck squamous cell cancer to almost zero, without affecting the beneficial bacteria normally found in the mouth.
Fighting oral cancer with bioengineered chewing gum
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell shows that antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums reduce the levels of three microbes linked to worse outcomes in oral cancers, paving the way for more effective and affordable therapies.
The performing arts at Penn: Process, practice, and purpose
In the vivid tapestry of performing arts groups at Penn, students prepare for their performances while simultaneously enriching their college experience.
