The Big Row 2011: Cal v. Stanford Will Honor Jill Costello Tomorrow at Redwood Shores

The California and Stanford men's and women's varsity squads will renew their rivalry tomorrow at Redwood Shores, with the men's Varsity 8s competing for the Schwabacher Cup, and the women's 1Vs going head-to-head for the Lambert Cup. In honor of the late Jill Costello -- a major contributor on the Cal women's team, who passed away following a battle with lung cancer last June -- the men's squads from Cal and Stanford, as well as the Stanford women, will wear aquamarine ribbons (Costello's favorite color), and the Cal women will wear alternate uniforms/make use of specially painted blades (also aquamarine). The racing will begin at 10:10 am on Saturday morning, with the men's Varsity 4+ race, and will culminate with the two Varsity 8 races at 11:15 (men) and 11:30 am (women). If you are anywhere around the Bay Area this weekend, this will be an event worth seeing, with some of the finest collegiate talent in the US on display.

Men's events:

The Bears, coached by Mike Teti and currently ranked No. 2, enter the racing this weekend having just competed against long-time arch-rival, and current No. 1, Washington, on the Montlake Cut. The Huskies showed great speed, edging out the Bears in the Varsity 8 by just under three seconds, and defeating Cal by increasing margins in the 2V and V4+ races. The Cal Frosh, however, were able to reverse the trend, and defeated the Huskies by a length open. Tomorrow, the Bears will prove a very tough challenge for Craig Amerkhanian's Stanford men (currently checking in at No. 11), though the Cardinal Varsity 8 (stacked with top Frosh recruit Austin Hack and local stand-out Sebastian Peterlin) raced very well against a Cal V8 that included Dutch Olympian (and mechanical engineering student) Olivier Siegelaar, as well as California native and Coast alum Dane Oatman, at Crew Classic earlier this month, taking 2nd and crossing the line just under 3 seconds behind Cal. The Cal Frosh appear to be on pace for what could be championship season this year at the IRA (look for a dominant performance from that crew tomorrow morning, as Stanford will likely place their top Frosh in the Varsity 8, as they did in San Diego), and we think that the Cal 2V will prove too much for Stanford.

Women's events:

The Cal women (currently ranked No. 3), under the direction of Head Coach Dave O'Neill, return from Washington with a great deal of momentum, having swept all events on 'The Cut.' This is indeed quite a feat, as it marks the first loss for the UW women's Frosh 8 since 2009 (and the first loss for Head Frosh Coach Nicole Minett since she began coaching the Huskies). However, the Bears have come home to the Bay Area to face Yaz Farooq's very strong Stanford squad, currently ranked No. 2 in the country, and with a Varsity 8 that's loaded with talent, including two Olympians in Elle Logan (gold medal in Beijing) and Lindsay Meyer (5th place in the W4x in Beijing). Both teams have a great deal of depth (see our preseason profile of these two crews for more information), and the racing was fairly close between the two teams two weeks ago in Sacramento at the Lake Natoma Invite. Stanford defeated Cal in both the Varsity 8 and the 2V (by roughly 5 seconds in both cases) in Sacramento, and there is no question that Stanford have enough talent and experience at the varsity level to win this season. Cal, too, have a great deal of upside and developing talent in their program, with sophomore phenom Kara Kohler and senior co-captain Mary Jeghers, fresh from their gold medal performance at U23 Worlds last summer. The Cal Frosh appear to have the advantage over Stanford, as they are coming off a solid victory over a very talented opponent in Washington, and the Cal V4+ look to be quicker than Stanford as well.

For a full preview of the men's and women's events from the Cal and Stanford athletics websites, see below:

Cal Women -- http://www.calbears.com/sports/w-crew/spec-rel/042711aab.html

Cal Men -- http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-crew/spec-rel/042711aab.html

Stanford Women -- http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-crew/spec-rel/042811aaa.html

Stanford Men -- http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-crew/spec-rel/042811aaa.html

Trending posts this month

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b
Read more

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? At Marin Rowing Association, Culture is Key

Image
Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s up before 4:30am. So, wh
Read more

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States.
Read more

So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now?

Image
Warwick rowers are all in again this year (Photo courtesy of Warwick Boat Club)  The phenomenon started four years ago with the Warwick Rowing men's squad. Then, the following year, the Warwick women's team joined the fray. Now, Newcastle University's men and women are back on the naked calendar train. So, the question is, have rowing and naked calendars become a thing? The above video features the 2014-2015 Warwick women's squad—the third edition of the calendar , and, from the looks of it, the raciest. However, perhaps not so racy as that of the 2014-2015 Warwick men (see below). But raciness aside, all four of these teams have chosen worthy charities and have gone "the full monty" to make sure that those causes have received considerable contributions. The Warwick women contribute to Macmillan Cancer Support —a cause for which Warwick reports it has donated some £5,000. The Warwick men? Sport Allies —a charity that combats homophobia in spor
Read more

Video Of The Week: Holland Beker 2013

Image
This week's video comes to us from the Bosbaan, where the 2013 Holland Beker saw truly elite, international competition over the weekend. Perhaps the most outstanding racing came in the women's single, where the A Final closely mirrored a world championship or Olympic final in recent years—the lineup included two-time Olympic champ Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, Kim Crow of Australia, New Zealand's Emma Twigg , reigning Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, another two-time Olympic champion (albeit in the women's eight) in Eleanor Logan , and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist (also in the eight) Chantal Achterberg of Holland.  As it turned out, the final was a wire-to-wire victory for Kim Crow, who looks to be on top form and may be the athlete to beat in this event for the foreseeable future, holding off both Karsten and Twigg in the closing stretch, with Knapkova finishing fourth. Elle Logan had another solid race in a great field, finishing just ove
Read more