LUKAS BLANKENSTEIN / CONTRIBUTOR

Both the USD men’s and women’s rowing teams were in action from March 28-30 for the San Diego Crew Classic. The crew classic began in 1973 and markets itself as the “premier spring rowing regatta in the United States” on their website. The event has races for all genders, age groups and skill levels. Both USD teams sent two teams for the eight rower and four rower events.

The USD women’s team had a strong weekend that was capped off by a pair of second-place finishes. The first of these was the Varsity 8 Cal Cup Collegiate Invitational — an eight rower race. The Varsity 8 rowers finished with a time of 6:52.66 — four  seconds behind first place California State University, Sacramento. The second of USD’s two Varsity 4 teams also finished in second place. The team finished six seconds behind University of California, San Diego with a time of 08:31.66.

The women’s team rowing at the Crew Classic. Photo courtesy of @usdwrowing/Instagram

The No. 25 ranked men’s rowing team also had a successful weekend. The men’s first varsity team started their weekend well with a victory in their opening heat on March 29, beating No. 6 University of California, Los Angeles. They finished with a time of 06:06.89. USD Head Coach Bart Thompson spoke glowingly of his team after his team victory in the opening heat.

“We knew it was going to be a fight early with UCLA, but [USD] made a couple statements,” Thompson said. “The guys did a really nice job with their composure. Just walked through them in the middle, ended up with a really nice, solid margin of victory.”

The men’s  varsity team took that momentum into the championship race, where they finished fourth  with a time of 06:08.59, 10 seconds behind No.2 ranked University of California, Berkeley. The second Varsity 8 team also had a strong weekend, finishing in second place in the championship with a time of 06:18.75.

After the San Diego Crew Classic, USD junior and men’s rower Rex Bales was added to the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) Athlete watchlist in the D1/D2 Heavyweight category. This is Bales’ second time with the honor. As a sophomore Torero, Bales was an Empacher-IRCA All-American, First-Team All Western Sprints and First-Team All Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association, while also being invited to the USA U23 National Team Sweep selection camp. Overall, 28 athletes received the honor of being on the watchlist for heavyweight rowing. The watchlist also included six former Olympians, 16 members of the U23 national team and 21 team captains across the various awarded categories.

USD’s successful weekend in their own backyard could potentially be a confidence boost for USD’s rowing teams. The teams will attempt to keep this momentum going ahead of their next races in Philadelphia at the Schuylkill River Invitational on April 12.

USD men’s rowing walking to their race in the Crew Classic. Photo courtesy of @usdmrowing/Instagram