2007 Pacific Coast Rowing Championships

The West Coast did some racing last weekend too, as the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships were held on Lake Natoma. In the eight, it was no surprise as the number three ranked boat in the nation, Stanford, easily took care of Loyola Marymount. This may seem like a sideshow to the weekend, but I would suggest that the eastern crews take notice. While we saw Georgetown and Radcliffe close up on Princeton and Wisconsin, Stanford widened its margin over an improving LMU crew by over 10 seconds! Clearly the Cardinal hasn't been sitting still. Need I remind you that Stanford only lost to Wisconsin by 3.1 seconds, while Princeton just lost to them by 2.6 seconds. And Stanford raced the Badgers 2 weeks ago. One could make a good case that Stanford should be ranked second right now. This year's IRA is shaping up to be potentially the best ever (uh, wasn't that just last year?).

In the fours, Stanford also came away with gold, beating second place Humboldt State by 18 seconds. UCSD was third, followed by University of the Pacific and Cal.

Wingnuts and Washers From the Weekend

A presser about Dayton's silver in the JV eight at Dad Vail originally called the boat the "lightweight eight." Perhaps they did a Bucknell after all. This link, though, goes to the "2nd varsity" story.

The Stanford and LMU pressers about PCRCs are here and here.

Sprints stories are up for Wisconsin, Princeton, and Radcliffe.

Wisconsin also won the inaugural Konrad Ulbrich Team Trophy, another feather to put in the Badger cap. Also, a few people mentioned that one of the Wisco rowers was a bit wobbly on the awards dock after the race. Unbelievably (because I watched the medal presentation) I missed it all. You know, rowers always joke about passing out on the last stroke of the race, but few actually pull it off. This woman apparently came pretty close and nothing more can possibly be said about giving your all. What a testament not only to the intensity of the race, but to the spirit and heart of that athlete.

2007 Pacific Coast Rowing Championship Preview

A bit overshadowed by the huge East Coast regattas this weekend, the PCRCs take place in Sacramento. In the light eight, LMU takes on Stanford. (The LMU release also says that Cal will be in the race, but they aren't listed on the heat sheet.) Stanford has owned LMU recently, but the Lions are starting to come into their own. I don't think they're quite up to beating the number 3 crew in the nation, but the race will give them a good feel for where they stand heading to IRAs. For Stanford the race will serve to give them some racing action against a worthy opponent. The Cardinal will have to guard against overconfidence because I suspect that LMU will narrow past margins.

There's a five boat field in the four, consisting of Cal, UCSD, Stanford, Humboldt State, and the University of the Pacific. Stanford looks like the fastest of this group, having previously defeated Cal and Humboldt State. UCSD previously raced LBS, finishing 16 seconds back. This looks like Stanford's race to lose.

LMU lightweight Jill Austin is also racing in the open single, a little less than three hours before the eights. Austin sculled quite a bit over the summer and I wouldn't be surprised to see her pull off a win here.

The Stage is Set

All the players in today's drama played their roles perfectly. Wisconsin and Princeton both won, as their opponents fell into ranked order behind them. In Indianapolis, Wisconsin beat Stanford by 3 seconds, Georgetown by 11 seconds, and Ohio State by about 30 seconds. In Boston, Princeton beat Radcliffe by 11 seconds.

Both Wisconsin and Princeton were 3 seconds up on Stanford, while Wisconsin has been consistently 11 seconds faster than Georgetown, who was only 5.5 seconds off of Princeton. Wisconsin beat Radcliffe at Knecht by 22.5 seconds, as compared to Princeton's 11 seconds.

We can look at all of that and say that Wisconsin deserves its number one ranking, with Princeton a close second. I look at it and say one more thing - the momentum belongs to Stanford. The Cardinal seems to be the boat that is gaining speed faster than the others. Dare I suggest that this might be Stanford's year? Rowing is funny like that - it doesn't matter how fast you are during the season, it only matters how fast you are at the end.

Well, tuck the mental picture of Stanford standing on the medal dock in Camden in the back of your mind as we move on to more conventional thoughts. Eastern Sprints on May 13th has all the makings of a clash of Titans. While on paper Wisconsin appears to have the edge, the reality is that it's just too close to even hazard a guess. Georgetown and Radcliffe (who also seems to have gained a fair amount of speed) won't let Sprints turn into a two boat race, but we'll all be waiting to see what happens the first time Wisconsin and Princeton line up next to each other this season.

In the 2V, which will be a Sprints event for the first time this year, Princeton handily defeated Radcliffe by 24 seconds. We have yet to see Wisconsin race an actual 2V, so they'll be a complete unknown going into the regatta. More Wisco - Princeton drama.

Princeton's four won their race by 21 seconds. In freshmen races, Radcliffe remains undefeated as they beat Princeton by 16 seconds. The Wisconsin freshmen beat heavyweight boats from Purdue and Ohio State.

Windermere Crew Classic - Princeton Wins, But It's Stanford's Regatta

While the rest of the lightweight league warred on the East Coast, Stanford, LMU, and Cal welcomed Princeton and UCF to the West.

On Saturday morning Stanford handled LMU with an 18 second win, followed by a reprise of the Princeton victory over UCF, this time by 25 seconds. The afternoon races resulted in Stanford defeating UCF by 25 seconds, while Princeton knocked off LMU by 21. Wow! What better set-up for a Sunday Princeton-Stanford showdown could there be?

At the 500 meter mark of that Sunday showdown, the Tigers were out to a 3 second lead, and spectators could be forgiven for expecting a comfortable Princeton victory. It was not to be, however, as the Tigers only picked up another second and a half by the 1k mark, and then watched the Cardinal slowly move back. Princeton won the race, but by a mere 3 seconds, with Stanford turning in a faster final 1000 meters. It was hard to see much detail on the Web cast, but in the last 500, over which Stanford was a second faster, it looked like Princeton was struggling to get out of their puddles while Stanford maintained their length. Last year I believed it was UCF who would come roaring back from a less than ideal season the prior year, and this year I've said that it would be Stanford. It looks like I was right.

Also on Sunday, UCF and LMU, both holding 0 and 2 records at the regatta, met for the final lightweight eight showdown. In a race led by UCF the whole way, the Golden Knights defeated LMU by 10 seconds. Both of these crews came into Windermere and ran into buzz saws in the forms of Princeton and Stanford. They rowed well, but the Tigers and Cardinal were just too strong. In LMU's case, they competed against three of the top crews in lightweight rowing and acquitted themselves well.

The Princeton 2V was also at Windermere and finally got that race against Cal's heavyweight 3V. Cal jumped out to a 6 second lead by 500 meters and only gradually lengthened it from there, ultimately winning by 20 seconds. It was a tough row for Princeton as they faced a head wind which was an advantage for Cal the Tigers could ill afford to give up.

In the Princeton 2V's second race, on Sunday, they faced the Cal lightweights and Arizona State. Sam Chang, who wrote the Windermere preview on row2k, told me that ASU brought 4 lightweight rowers and their entire heavyweight boat with them, so the boat faced by Cal and Princeton was at least half heavyweights. This was the three boat demolition derby race with Cal, in lane zero, the most likely to run into trouble. Although the race ran off schedule so the results aren't listed, spotters tell me Princeton had an open water lead by the bridge, with Cal and ASU locked in a tight battle behind. Princeton maintained and lengthened its lead, winning by a couple of lengths open, with the Cal - ASU duel uncertain. Cal had to maneuver through the bridge so they clearly had a disadvantage, but whatever the outcome, the Golden Bears raced down a heavyweight crew from ASU, a nice result for a boat that hasn't had a lot of time together this season. Princeton's 2V, meanwhile, apparently put together a good race and showed their speed.

At the end of the day, a Stanford light four dominated a Cal light four, winning by 57 seconds.

With Stanford's resurgence Princeton begins to look vulnerable and the West Coast begins to become a larger factor in lightweight rowing. Princeton flies back east knowing they have yet to find the answer, and Stanford goes home with a new confidence and the understanding that by IRAs they should be contending for a medal. This result, combined with that from Knecht, makes me rethink the relative strength of the top crews. While I still believe Princeton is capable, I think Wisconsin is once again the crew to beat and that Stanford is in the top three. Next week's Princeton-Georgetown dual will tell us more, with the Stanford, Georgetown, Wisconsin, OSU race in two weeks looming especially large.

Windermere Crew Classic Preview

Racing this weekend will be overshadowed by the Knecht Cup and, to a lesser extent, by the Windermere Crew Classic. We'll start with Windermere in Redwood Shores, California. This is a regatta at which the participants are treated like queens and kings, particularly the out-of-towners. In some cases (all?) local Windermere real estate offices pick visiting teams to cheer for and root for those crews all weekend. Those of us who have rowed on the West Coast know that it's a great place to be and I hope the region develops more lightweight teams in the coming years.

For our purposes the racing kicks off on Saturday at 1108 as Stanford takes on LMU, followed by a reprise of Princeton vs UCF. I'll start off by saying that I think Stanford will be a lot faster than most people expect. They clearly toyed with the other crews at the Crew Classic and after a pretty crummy spring last year, the Cardinal will be ready to strut their stuff. LMU has a good boat this year (I think significantly faster than other years, if they get all their best lightweights in it), but they'll have their hands full. I'm not saying this will be a blowout, but I think Stanford will take this one. Princeton and UCF just raced last week and although the Golden Knights probably got faster over the week, I don't think it's enough time to make up 20 seconds. For UCF to have a chance here the Tigers have to have a bad row and UCF needs a great row.

At 1226 Princeton's 2V is scheduled to take on the Cal heavyweight 3V. Cal's heavyweights are currently ranked 5th in the nation so although the schedule says 3V, I assume this boat can hammer. I bet Cal is talking about not embarrassing the little lightweights. This matchup was also scheduled last year, but never took place; hopefully this year is different. Prediction? I have no idea, but this could be the most intense lightweight race of the regatta. I'd love to get a picture of these two crews lined up next to each other!

Saturday evening the crews switch as Stanford takes on UCF and Princeton battles LMU. Last year UCF went west for the Pacific Coast Championships looking for revenge against a Stanford crew that just beat them at the IRA. The tables are turned this year as it's Stanford's turn to prove they're contenders. This should be one of the more exciting races at the regatta. A good win by Stanford might make some Tigers lose sleep Saturday night. First, of course, Princeton needs to get by LMU. Just as with UCF, LMU will need a great race while Princeton has a bad one to see an upset here.

Sunday begins with the Princeton 2V taking on Arizona State. This will be some good racing experience for ASU, but I expect Princeton to take this one. At 1130 Stanford takes on Princeton followed by LMU vs UCF. If you can only make it to the race course one day, make it Sunday (ooooh, except maybe for that Princeton2V - Cal heavy 3V matchup). This is a big race for Stanford as they'll take on the current top ranked lightweight boat in the country. If Princeton lives up to its billing, it will be a difficult task for the Cardinal, but it's because of that "if" that we race. A better race than some might expect, but Princeton should win. The LMU - UCF race will be a dog fight. Easties (and Stanford) are used to LMU being a gimme, but that won't be true this year. If their top lightweight boat makes it to the starting line (and I assume it will) UCF will have a race on its hands. It's awfully early in the season to make predictions, so to me this is too close to call.

At 1230 a Stanford four takes on a Cal four. I expected Cal to be racing an eight, but injuries kept them from the Crew Classic so I'm guessing that they're not quite healed yet. That's a tough break.

I like Windermere and I like how Stanford gets East Coast crews to travel West. It's great to spread the lightweight karma around the country and get good crews racing each other no matter where they're located. That's what elite college sports are all about. It calls the bluff of those crews, located in the heart of the eastern lightweight concentration, who complain about having to race as a lower level heavyweight boat to find good races. These Windermere programs are committed to lightweight rowing and put their money and effort where their mouths are (and yes, Stanford has traveled to Knecht in the past). Speaking of which, part of Princeton's commitment to the league is bringing two boats West. I, however, would've been tempted to only take the 1V and race the 2V at Knecht. That 2V is a pretty fast boat and it would've been interesting to see what it could have done.

Crew Classic

At the Crew Classic in San Diego, Stanford easily (36 seconds) outdistanced the competition, Chapman and Arizona State. While I missed the final, I saw the preliminary (raced for lane placement), which had a similar result. Stanford easily controlled the race, with open water by the 1000. Stanford looked impressive - their catches were clean, crisp, and together, length looked good, and the bodies were together. Chapman and Arizona State are new names on the lightweight circuit, and had nice races with each other. Time will tell if these crews will be consistent lightweight racers or if they just put out boats of opportunity, but it would always be nice to see them stick around.

It's unfortunate, and I'm sure Stanford shares this opinion too, that LMU and Cal had to scratch from this event. I think both of these crews are getting faster and could have given Stanford a good race. No matter though, because we'll see all three in a few weeks at Windermere.

Race Tomorrow and More Press

In a rare mid-week dual, Stanford will be racing Santa Clara tomorrow in Los Gatos. This is a bit of a re-match as the Cardinal and the Broncos met up a few weeks ago at the Sacramento Invitational. Racing in the heavy eight event, Stanford finished just 9 seconds ahead of Santa Clara, while in the light four, Stanford was nearly 35 seconds ahead of the Santa Clara crew. This should be a good race as SC will certainly be looking for revenge.

Lehigh's gold medal winning lightweights took the headline of the Mountain Hawks' Murphy Cup press release. Also making Murphy Cup headlines were Villanova's lights for the light four's performance. It's nice to see the Wildcat lightweights back in the news.

Duquesne's press release notes the lightweights' fine performance against Dayton, listing the four's victory as well as the eight's win in the second of two races. Speaking of Dayton, the student newspaper has a nice season preview, which notes the Flyers' nice finishes last year.

Some Not Reviewed

Because the season previews are done on last year's top ten, some crews that are worthy of pre-season notice are inevitably left out. In particular, no West Coast crews were previewed. While this reflects the down year those crews had last year, it's probably not indicative of their performance this year. I find it hard to believe that Stanford will be kept out of the top 10 for long (or ever again?), and I think it's about time for Cal to break into the group. The problem for Cal, however, is that they can never really get ranked without traveling to IRAs, a trip that is quite an expense for a club team. When the IRAs move west I'm sure we'll see Cal race, as well as a few other crews, such as LMU. Stanford, Cal, and LMU really make up the West Coast lightweight contingent and are often unfairly overlooked. In the case of Cal and LMU it's very difficult to know where they stand with regard to the East Coast schools because they so infrequently race each other. When they do, such as at Windermere, it's early in the season and they're unlikely to be in top form. Even Cal's trip to Boston this year left questions since they were involved in a collision and were unable to show their true speed. The Bears do have the IRAs on their schedule this year, so perhaps we'll see them in Camden.

Another program that has pretty faithfully raced lightweight boats is Marist. Marist will be at Knecht and they also have the IRAs on their schedule. The Red Foxes have been fighting through a spate of injuries all fall and winter, a situation that could imperil the light eight. Marist would like to race a fast eight at IRAs and they finished as high as 8th in 2001, so they do have some history at the big race. I'll cross my fingers for some quick healing Red Foxes.

Also a quick update on St. Joe's. The Hawks will not be racing lightweights this year. A disappointment, but even when they start the season with a light boat they often fall away as time goes on. I do think that one of these years we'll see them put out a strong boat for an entire season.

Stanford Recruit

There hasn't been much in the way of recruiting announcements this year, but a future Stanford rower did make it into the news this week. A story in the New Canaan News-Review on Maritime Rowing Club high school seniors notes that Krista Doersch, a Junior Nationals gold medalist in the light four, will attend Stanford next year. As I've written before, I think it's a good thing for Stanford to bring in rowers from the east. Not that there aren't plenty of good rowers in the west and midwest, but Stanford is a national school and it should recruit nationally. A quick look at this year's roster suggests that Coach Acosta has done a pretty good job - half of the twenty rowers listed are from the "east coast." I would guess that in the student body as a whole much less than 50% is from the east coast.





Technorati Tags: rowing

Stanford Was Racing Last Weekend

I missed Stanford at the Wine Country Rowing Classic last weekend. They put out at least three fours which raced against each other in a light four event. The top four turned in a time 30 seconds off the winning Stanford heavy four.

It Keeps Going...

There is an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about Stanford's claim of East Coast bias at IRAs. I think Stanford has some legitimate compliants, but wow, do they not understand how to go about getting them addressed! Part of this is a CYA exercise by the coach. He was the one who apparently went merrily through the season never bothering to check on an issue that was plain for the rest of the world to see - his freshman sophomore. It was his responsibility to make sure the rower was eligible and if not, that he had enough time to work a replacement into the lineup. If he truly thought there would be no problem, that's a serious error in judgment for a head coach to make.

The real problem here is that these claims of bias are the type of issues the NCAA loves to "solve." I think the "federal case" strategy has a good chance of succeeding if there is no public counter to these claims. Whether he understands it himself or not, Craig Amerkhanian is quickly making it his mission in life to destroy lightweight rowing.

Freudian Slip

It really is all about an NCAA championship for heavy men. A Stanford Daily article titled "MURPHY’S LAW: CREW OUT OF NCAAs" discusses Stanford's decision to not race the number 4 heavy men's V8 in the country at IRAs because they have a freshman in the boat. I feel bad for the freshman, and I tend to think the rule is ill advised, but I do know it exists and everyone knew it in March. How could it have been a surprise to Stanford now? In fact, some have suggested the rule was originally put in place to help the West Coast crews who were less likely to have freshman with prior rowing experience. This is all about making a statement to further the NCAA cause. Maybe Stanford should work through the ECAC rather than trying to make a federal issue out of everything. The Stanford coach also takes a swipe at Harvard, suggesting that without Stanford racing, the Crimson might have a shot at a medal. Big talk when it's shouted from a four. I guess now we know why Stanford dropped the Indian as their mascot - Indians aren't crybabies.

(By the way, the Blogger spell checker flags NCAAs, and suggests Nazis as a replacement.)

IRA Heats

IRA heats are now listed on row2k. (Thanks to a reader for the notification.)

By the way, when looking at the heat sheets, one thing that jumps out is that the #4 men's heavyweight boat is not listed. That's right, Stanford is continuing it's NCAA temper tantrum by allegedly splitting its fourth ranked eight into fours for the IRA. I raise it here because it's more evidence that this push to make men's heavyweights an NCAA championship sport, and sending a death notice to lightweight rowing, will not die. What apparently prompted this act was the IRA rule barring freshmen from racing in varsity men's events. Stanford has a freshman in it's V8. While this looks like Stanford is cutting off its nose to spite its face, it must not be a big deal to the Cardinal because they don't consider the IRA to be a "legitimate national championship." It's also not a big deal to Stanford because this move shows they obviously had no thoughts of winning the eight. Like a zombie, the heavy men's NCAA championship proposal will continue to rise from the dead.

Meanwhile, In California...

UCF has fired the last shots across the bows of Georgetown, Wisconsin, Radcliffe, and Princeton before IRAs, beating Stanford by 8 seconds at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. This UCF crew is a freight train barreling through the night and when the sun comes up over The Cooper River in three weeks I wouldn't want to be in its way. I'm not right that often, but I've been on the UCF bandwagon since the start of the year and every time they race they prove me right. They were 1 second behind Georgetown at Knecht and given that Georgetown is pulling themselves into spitting distance of the top three, UCF must be getting there too.

Pacific Coast Rowing Championships

The PCRC schedule just came out and the V8 field includes Stanford, UCF, Sacramento State, and Cal. At first blush this looks like a race between Stanford and UCF. Stanford just beat UCF in the heat at IRAs last year and the Golden Knights definitely have revenge on their mind. Not to mention the fact that when a crew travels across the country it intends to come home victorious. Stanford will have its arms full with UCF and better have one of their best rows if they expect to win. UCF may just be too strong. Sacramento State has had some real success in fours, beating Stanford earlier in the year, so they may put together a fast eight, and Cal would like nothing more than to finally beat the Cardinal. At worst this will be a good two boat race, while they may all take it to the wire.

More Racing

Stanford raced a light eight against a Cal heavyweight boat on Saturday, losing by 17 seconds. We're not told what Cal boat was in the race.

The WIRA Championships were held Saturday with a light N4 and a light V4. Cal won both races, winning the N4 by 11 seconds over second place Sacramento State and the V4 by 2 seconds over second place Pacific Lutheran.

Some Articles

This article in The Stanford Daily is notable, mainly for its reference to the Stanford lightweights as "the matchstick Card." No, sorry, I wouldn't want to be a matchstick. Does the author describe the heavyweights as the "bovine Card?" Jeez, they're soooo insensitive at Stanford. Next thing you know they'll be calling themselves the Indians again. Maybe they should stick to search engines.

Meanwhile, after always reading how losing all your races is still a "strong showing," the Spectrum at Buffalo published an article titled, "Crew makes unexpectedly poor showing." That's exactly what happened when they raced Bucknell and Colgate (who'll be surprised to find they are in the Ivy League) and the team knows it. To the coach's credit, he admits to some problems and discusses how he will correct them. No BS here. Kind of refreshing isn't it? By the way, we also find out that the Buffalo lightweight boat that got hammered by Bucknell caught several crabs. The coach mentions the coming "hell week." Yikes!

Other Races Last Weekend

Hard to believe but there were lightweight races other than at the Knecht Cup last weekend. In California Stanford and Cal raced several heavyweights as well as occasionally each other. In head to head races Stanford won the V4 while Cal won the novice 4. In an article discussing these races in the Stanford Daily, much is made of the return to the V8 of a junior rower. While it's unclear that this rower has that much effect on the eight, the point is that Stanford may still have a few tricks up its sleeve. And it will need them to get back in the hunt.

At FIRAs Nova beat Tampa by 36 seconds, while in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City raced a light four against a passel of heavyweights. SCAD raced a light four against the College of Charleston heavyweights, only losing by 15 seconds. Ithaca was also listed as racing light fours against heavies from Rochester and St. Lawrence.

"Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me" - Stanford Men

The Stanford men continue to whinge about how their competition has more scholarships to give so the playing field isn't even. Why should women's lightweights care? Because Stanford's, and the Pac-10's, solution is a NCAA championship for the heavyweight men which would undoubtedly end the IRAs and leave the light men and light women without a national championship regatta. I've written about this several times before and suggested that you (or your coach) take a position against this proposal. We're in the comment period now but I believe it ends soon. Many heavyweight coaches, as well as lightweight coaches, are against this proposal, but the NCAA seems to be favorably disposed. Now is the time to act against it!