One eventful day it will be! Please join Beach Crew, members of the Beach Crew Alumni Association, and the community of the Pete Archer Rowing Center on Saturday, November 12, for the annual Long Beach Fall Collegiate Invitational Regatta and several other events following the races.

Join us at 8:00 AM as the Varsity crews of, The Beach, UCLA, UCSB, USC, UCI, LMU, SDSU and Chapman University, face off in a 4000 meter head race down the historic Marine Stadium, through Alamitos Bay, and around Naples Island, finishing at Second Street. At 8:30 AM, Novice crews begin several rounds of 850 meter sprints inside Marine Stadium.

Breakfast will be served free-of-charge for all athletes through the generous support of the Seal Beach Lions Club and the Beach Crew Alumni Association. The parents, CSULB community, and members of the Pete Archer Rowing Center, are invited to join us for a $2 min. donation to the team.

Alumni of the team are encouraged to participate in the Beach Crew Alumni Association’s Annual Meeting at 10:30 AM to hear about BCA’s future alumni events, latest support efforts to the team, and to elect the Board of Directors for the next season.

The Beach is wrapping up the 2011 spring racing season this month. The 2011 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Assoc. Championship regatta was a challenge, yet rewarding event for all the athletes. 17 MPH winds (30 MPH gusts) brushed through the course on Friday and during heats on Saturday with chilling weather in the low 40′s. Here are the highlights.

The Men’s Varsity 4+ finished 6th in the petite final for a 12th place on the west coast ranking. The Men’s Pair got 3rd in their petites for a 9th place west coast ranking. Both the Women’s Varsity and Novice 4+ finished 1st in their petite finals for a 7th place west coast ranking.

The Women’s Lightweight 4+ was in the grand final on Sunday morning placing 6th in the conference.

See the results at GoWira.org

It’s that time again to head to the Sacramento State Aquatic Center (SSAC) for the 2011 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships. The event is this weekend, Saturday & Sunday (April 30-May 1).

The Beach is starting to taper for the big event.  The WIRA Championship is the West Coast Championship regatta for non-PAC-10 schools.  SSAC is a great race course along the American River with terrific viewing, and is located 20 minutes east of Sacramento on US 50, near the town of Folsom. The team will travel to SSAC on Friday morning, and get a practice row on the course in the afternoon.

We have 7 boats entered in the competition: MN8+, MV4+, M2-, WV4+, WL4+, WN4+, WNL4+

Spectators: For those planning on attending, the best viewing is at the finish area in the Nimbus Dam Recreation Area, off Hazel Avenue and US 50.

Driving time is about 7 hours from Long Beach, or you can fly to Sacramento and rent a car for the 40 min drive to SSAC. There are several great bike paths along the American River, so bicycles are a good option if you can bring them.

There is an admission charge to get into the viewing area, which is a State Park. There is also parking available in a lot a few blocks away with a free shuttle to take you to the viewing area. Admission charges are usually included in the parking fee.

Follow us on Twitter and the Facebook page for live results. See our homepage for more information.

Beach Crew would like to thank BCA and the CSULB Foundation for getting the new site layout ready for this weekend.

GO BEACH!

See the course map and venue information at the WIRA website and the Sacramento State Aquatic Center.