Men's Crew WIRA 2024
Beach Crew Men’s team competed with three different boats at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships (WIRA) located in Sacramento, California. They had a Novice 8+ boat, a Novice 4+ boat and a Varsity 4+ boat. All races took place over the last weekend of April. Our boats participated in two 2k races each, with the first race determining which final event they would contend in.
The first race for Beach Crew was the men’s novice 8+ against four other colleges included UCLA, USC, UCI and UOR. At the beginning of the race all boats started fairly close with each other, until losing momentum with a steering correction. Beach Crew placed fourth out of the five boats with a total time of 7:03:9. Our novice 8+ beat UOR by around 20 seconds and lost to UCI by about 20 seconds as well. UCLA and USC were in the lead battling for first the whole race, with UCLA winning by only a second in front of USC. By surpassing UOR, the novice 8+ qualified for the petite final the next day.
The novice 8+ petite final started promising, but took an unfortunate turn. In the petite final, Beach Crew competed against CPSLO, SDSU, UCI, CALLT, ASU and UOR. Our novices started in lane five and began the sprint in fourth place. Suddenly our Novice 8+ began turning away from our lane and cutting in front of CALLT’s boat. While we did finished the race, we were disqualified and labeled as did not finish because we exited our course completely.
Our men’s novice 4+ competed in both of their races on the same day and never lost their energy. For the qualifying race they were up against UCLA’s A boat, UCI, CALLT, OCC and SEA. Our novices did not have the best start, but they jumped up to the leading boats very quickly in a calm and collected state. We were able to out row CALLT to finished third, while only being 2 seconds behind the second place boat. Finishing with a time of 7:27.2 the novice 4+ made it into the petite finals. Only a couple hours later, our novice 4+ was back out on the course for their finals race versus UCLA’s B boat, CALLT, SDSU, UNLV, and CMA. Located in the first lane our novices started strong in third place behind UCLA and CALLT. We stayed in that position throughout the whole race. UCLA and CALLT were fighting for first place as our boat was about a boat length behind. Once again we finished third, but this time with about 30 seconds of open water in front of SDSU and a total time of 7:53.9.
Lastly, our men’s varsity 4+ had a very exciting first qualifying race against SDSU, UCLA’s A boat, CPH, UCLA B, L&C and CALLT. As for their strategy during their heats, women’s novice rower and first time novice coxswain Angela Diaz stated that, “My plan of action for both races was to keep the boat straight, not to crash and to keep the guys motivated. It was my first time being a coxswain in a 4+ and third time overall being a coxswain.” Positioned in lane one, our varsity 4+ was behind most of the boats in the beginning, but was able to build speed to get close behind the leading boats. We were head to head with CPH when they suddenly caught a crab. This stopped CPH’s boat almost completely and launched Beach Crew into third place. With a straight course and momentum building in the boat Diaz stated that, “When I saw Humboldt catch a crab I remember telling the guys ‘they caught a crab this is our chance’ and we did a power ten.” We were able to keep our third place position and finish with a time of 7:18:471, not too far behind SDSU and UCLA’s A boat.
For the Long Beach Men’s Varsity 4+ petite final they competed with WWU, CPH, UOR, ASU’s B boat, and SSRC. At the start they did need a slight steering correction, but for the rest of the race they had a good course. With the correction our varsity rowers were able to be more connected with each other in the boat. This adjustment made it possible for them to build up to the front of the pack and pass ASU’s B boat putting them in third place. Staying strong they finished in third place with a time of 7:22.702. When asked how the boat felt at the end of the petite final Diaz stated, "It was a great win, a great fight and great competition all around. The team’s morale was strong. I know they gave it their all and were happy with our accomplishments."
Beach Men’s Crew had their share of ups and downs this season at WIRA. The potential seems promising for ACRA and next season, especially with the smaller boats. As for her own takeaway from her very first championships Diaz described it as, “Surreal. I’m honored to be a part of this experience with a great team. This just comes to show that great dedication and hard work results in making it to championships."
First Photo Caption: Beach Crew group photo at WIRA.
Second Photo Caption: Beach Crew's Varsity 4+, from left to right Cooper Willhelm, Alexis Larios, Angela Diaz, Andres Boppell and Alejandro Juarez.
Third Photo Caption: Beach Crew's Novice 4+, stroke Sean Panting, 3 seat Vaughan Popp, 2 seat Cooper Willhelm, bow Alexis Larios.