CREW ‘mdash; The waters of Northern California are set to welcome a flurry of boat races this weekend. Competing in the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta on May 2 and 3, the UCSD men’s and women’s crew teams head out to the state’s capital with victories on their minds and the ambition to prove they belong at nationals.
Off to an inspiring start, the UCSD men’s varsity eight has compiled a record-breaking season. At the San Diego Crew Classic, the team recaptured the Cal Cup, earning a spot in next year’s Copley Cup. The varsity eight has also held a top-25 ranking from the U.S. Rowing Collegiate National Polls every week this season and has a shot at making the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships, a feat accomplished by no California schools outside of perennial powerhouses Cal and Stanford.
‘Although we’ve shown that we know how to win, the important race is this coming weekend,’ senior co-captain Ryan Andre said. ‘If we can win the varsity category at WIRA I think that would be proof of a really special boat.’ To win the big regattas so consistently without a hiccup would be a rare achievement. If we do well at WIRA we can then look into the IRA regatta. Making an appearance there would be a first for UCSD rowing. In my eyes that is more of a congratulatory event for a season well raced, and a no-pressure chance to slug it out with the big guns.’
Hosted by the Sacramento State Aquatic Center, the Triton men begin at 7 a.m. at Rancho Cordova.
‘We have spent all year training for this weekend, countless practices on and off the water all leading up to this race,’ senior co-captain Jon Lynch said. ‘Even with all of our recent success in the past few seasons, it has been 10 years since UCSD has won the varsity eight category at WIRA. We are not satisfied with getting second. Our goal is simple: win. We train too hard to go for anything less.” ‘ ‘
UCSD’s toughest competitor will be Gonzaga University ‘mdash; the varsity eight squad’s only loss this year, coming by less than one second.
‘We are going to show up with the attitude that we are the fastest crew at the championship, with the idea that it is a mental advantage when others perceive us as such,’ Andre said. ‘I think we all know we have a good chance of winning the varsity category if we execute well despite the fact that we haven’t beaten Gonzaga in recent history. We lost to them in a tight race earlier this year, which we believe we can avenge, so I anticipate a dogfight all the way down the racecourse. We have a tough eight guys in the boat that I think will rise to such an occasion.’
The women’s team is also looking to prove a point on race day. Last season, the varsity eight boat led the Grand Final pack up until the final five meters of the race, ultimately finishing second, just seven-tenths of a second behind winner Seattle Pacific University.
‘Last year was quite a heartbreaker with SPU taking the lead in the last 10 strokes,’ senior co-captain Kelly Hansen said. ‘The nice thing about it is that we have three of the same girls that were in that boat last year and they are out for revenge. We are so driven to get out there and just attack the race.’
The women will begin at 8 a.m. at Lake Natoma in Folsom.
‘WIRA is a very important competition for us, as it is one of the only chances for our team to prove that we are worthy of going to nationals,’ senior co-captian Alissa Kispersky said. ‘We will go into this race knowing that the boats we are up against are all vying for one spot at the nationals. Only the best will get there. We have an extremely strong eight this year, and I am proud to say that I have a lot of faith in these girls. If nothing else, we are going to bring our determination to this race.’
Readers can contact Brianna Lee at [email protected].