Men’s Crew Fall Updates: San Diego Fall Classic
November 11, 2019
Saturday, November 10th, 2019, Beach Crew traveled to Mission Bay, San Diego for this year’s Fall Classic. This event had over 400 entries with 42 different clubs participating. Saturday was spent unloading and rigging boats, followed by practice out on the water. Sunday morning the team gathered early at the racecourse, and the coaches and coxswains finalized the day’s race plans.
Above: Novice 8s first practice in Mission Bay on Saturday
Starting off the day was the Men’s Open 8+ at 7:45 am. LBSU’s A Varsity boat placed 17th out of 21. Their total time to complete the course was 17:00.388, passing UCSB’s C boat (17:09.357) and following right behind UCSB’s B boat (16:59.756).
The next event for the men was the Men’s Open Frosh/Novice 8+ at 8:50 am. Both novice boats participated, with most of the new rowers ready to test the preparation they have been preparing since September. LBSU A Novice Boat placed 5th out of 10 with a time of 18:14.887. UCI’s A boat (18.17.586) followed behind Beach Crew’s novices. LBSU’s B boat finished after, placing 10th overall with a time of 20:32.698.
Novice Josh Lao described the race, “as a novice I was very excited to attend my first race!” he said, “although there were a few shortcomings… I was still very excited to race”. When asked what he took away from this race he commented, “I could improve for the next race by practicing more long-distance [and] improving working on cardio and weights… outside of crew practice”. The novices strive for improvement and look forward to their next races.
No regatta is ever complete without challenges and obstacles for the athletes. This was evident during the Men’s Open 2x at 9:50 am. LBSU’s A double had an unfortunate collision with a buoy and flipped during the course. However, both rowers got right back up and finished the race. They placed second timed at 30:23.482.
The lightweights are back! LBSU’s lightweight four took fourth place in the lightweight race during ACRA this year. At 10:45 am on Sunday, the four participated in the Men’s Open 4+. LBSU placed 10th out of 14 in this open event. Their time was 18:43.533, coming in behind ASU’s A boat (18:35.006). The lightweights put up a good fight in this open weight event, they will be back for more!
Above: Novices relax after racing, chatting and snacking. From left to right; Nick Pizzo, Joaquin Toledoo, Brian Diaz, and Matthew Alvarez
The final event of the day for Men’s Crew was Men’s Open/Frosh/Novice 4+ at 11:20 am. LBSU sent out two novice 4’s in this event. LBSU’s B boat placed 4th out of 6, with a time of 22:31.477. LBSU’s A boat followed, placing 5th out of 6. Their time was 21:34.268, including a buoy crossing penalty adding on an additional 60 seconds. The course proved challenging for both rowers and coxswains.
San Diego gave Beach Crew a chance to evaluate athletic skills and areas for improvement. The rowers and coxswains look forward to more training and more races.
For more information on race times go to https://www.regattacentral.com/regatta/results.jsp?job_id=6167&org_id=0
Check back soon for more updates!
Row Beach!
