The UCSD men’s crew team has been making a name for itself in the Western Collegiate Rowing Association, going undefeated in the fall, including a win at the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival on Nov. 12, and most recently overcoming top teams such as UCLA and UC Davis at the San Diego Crew Classic on March 31 to receive the Cal Cup. Both wins were highly celebrated and put this year’s varsity squad into history as the first UCSD team to get first place at either tournament.
“”I feel honored to have made history for UCSD, especially knowing that the athletic department is going to be around next year,”” senior Michael Zurko said. “”It feels good to know that we are establishing our program within collegiate rowing, a very competitive community.””
This is also the first time, according to Zurko, that UCSD is ranked as one of the top 25 teams in the nation, due in part to help from a new head coach, professional rower Zach Johnson, who coached the UCSD novice teams for two years prior to leading the varsity team. Many of the varsity rowers credit him with putting a tough edge back into the program, thanks to the already strong technical base instilled by former coach Mark Davis.
The San Diego Crew Classic took place at home in Mission Bay, and UCSD finished ahead of UCLA, UC Davis, Lehigh University, Orange Coast College and the University of Minnesota with a time of 6 minutes, 30.6 seconds.
“”As a team, we declared our goals early in the season and winning the [San Diego Crew Classic] was one of them,”” senior Shawn Hay said. “”But in past years it has been something to hope for whereas this year it was more tangible, so it became something we had to do.””
Hay also explained one of his team’s key techniques for the win that they learned from the coach in which they save their energy at the strart of the race in order to give it their all down the stretch run.
“”Coach has earned the trust of the entire team, so when he tells us to do something that seems impossible to do, we do it,”” Hay said.
As a result of Johnson’s foresight and the team’s obedience, everything seemed to fall into place during the race. The Tritons were down by about four to six seats at the 1,000-meter mark when they made their final move with a big 20-stroke push and fought back to within two seats of the lead boat. Then, during the last 500 meters of the race, the Tritons managed to push their bow across the finish line just four seconds ahead of the Bruin boat.
“”I just remember in the haze hearing our coxswain shouting at us that we had a one seat lead with 400 meters to go and I trusted him and knew there was no way I was going to let that lead up,”” senior Gilbert Collins said. “”A lot of guys in that boat have come in second-place in a lot of big races, by slim margins and we were sick and tired of being that second place crew. The roar of the crowd also offered an incredible rush when we took it to the last sprint.””
In the week leading up to the Tritons’ exciting accomplishment, the team had to overcome some strange occurrences with its gear, which even earned attention in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The first happened during a morning practice on March 26 at Mission Bay when, due to stormy weather, large waves began to sink the team’s boat and the crew practice turned into a water polo endurance test as the rowers attempted to swim their boat to shore with Johnson’s help.
Then, on March 30, the boat’s coxbox, a device used to keep track of time and row patterns during a race, malfunctioned. Luckily, the hero of the weekend, University of San Diego head coach Brooks Dagman, lent UCSD his old wires and fixed the Tritons’ system just minutes before the race, much like the following day when he lent the Tritons his team’s oars just before they were supposed to take off. In correction to the article published by the Union-Tribune, which claimed that the oars were stolen by the UCSD women’s crew team, the Tritons lent the oars to the Rocky Mountain Rowing Club to raise money, but the oars were not returned at the proper time or place.
Despite the scares, the Tritons were grateful for Brooks and local teams, and managed to stay focused enough for the victory.
“”We freaked out for a while, but the truth is that oars are not what make a boat fast, but the rowers that pull on them,”” Zurko said.
Aside from the many wins so far in the season, the Tritons still seem to be recovering from their loss to Gonzaga University by only two seconds in a duel back on March 16 and 17.
“”After Gonzaga, our boat realized how speed can be affected when we get flustered by bad starts, bad conditions or being down,”” senior co-captain Brendan Carriker said. “”Since then, we have been able to consistently lock in as a team and move the boat together no matter what.””
The team’s main goal is to be the first UCSD team to win the Western Collegiate Rowing Association Championships at Lake Natoma, Calif., on April 28 and 29, when it will have another stab at Gonzaga University and the other top teams in the West Region in hopes of competing in the Eastern College Athletic Conference National Invitational Rowing Championships in May.
“”Every individual is committed to the team, the sport, the coaches and the captains,”” Carriker said. “”This passion means every person does their work at 100-percent effort every time and it is the reason we, as a team, have great speed. Even though the varsity boat is the boat that won the Cal Cup, it was due in large part to the great deal of competition brought on by a very fast JV boat, which we practice with, side by side, every morning.””
