Video of the Week: Men's and Women's Varsity Eights at the Pac-12 Championships



On a huge weekend in intercollegiate racing, the Cal women proved that they are, once again, the team to beat out West, though there were new challengers emerging from the Pac-12 field. The Bears swept the racing to claim their fifth straight conference title, with Washington taking second in the team points, followed by UCLA just one point back overall. The Bruins had an excellent regatta and continue to step up their game this year–after a solid Crew Classic, UCLA made three trips to the podium in four races at Lake Natoma on Sunday, taking silver in the frosh eight, bronze in the varsity four, and bronze in the second varsity eight, finishing roughly one length from first in the closely packed varsity eight final for fourth place in that event.



The men's racing at Lake Natoma featured what was nothing short of a dominant Washington Husky program going to work against rivals California. The Bears showed that they have made some improvements since the Cal-UW dual, but the Huskies were able to win every race in convincing fashion. Hours later, Harvard fell to Brown in the men's varsity eight by 0.3 seconds at EARC Sprints Sunday afternoon in Worcester. The Husky men raced Brown early in the season, sweeping those Bears as well, though Brown look to have dramatically increased their top-end speed at just the right time. Both Harvard and Brown finished roughly ten seconds ahead of Wisconsin, as the Badgers took bronze in the varsity eight and won the second varsity eight event.

For a rundown of the weekend's racing, with links to full results, check out the new feature article on RowingNews.com. Thanks to the Pac-12 Conference YouTube Channel for posting the videos!

-RR

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