More goes into a crew boat than just eight athletes.
“We’re the most tight-knit team on campus,”
explains UCLA rower Cory Salisbury, who joined the men’s crew
team last year. “Yeah, we have to get up early in the
morning, but it’s absolutely worth it.”
So, how important is team unity?
Some rowers wake up at four in the morning on a regular basis to
travel to Marina Del Rey. They row for a couple hours, eat a quick
breakfast and then head off to class. No complaints.
During those early-morning hours, the team gets closer.
While enthusiastically increasing awareness of men’s crew
along Bruin Walk last week, Salisbury added an interesting
point.
“We get the opportunity to enjoy a peaceful moment in Los
Angeles every day. That’s not something many people
have.”
The rowers ““ among the top athletes in their class coming
out of high school ““ have to give up a lot to be on the team.
But their positive attitudes, cohesiveness and smiles nullify any
notions of sacrifice.
“You’re on the water with a passion to row,”
first-year student Chris Dekker said. “You’ve got seven
other guys dedicating themselves to the team, giving everything
they’ve got. It’s a competitive drive unknown to any
other sport.”
Established as a varsity sport at UCLA in 1933, the school
sponsored the program until 1990 when it was cut to comply with
Title IX. In its last season, the team finished third in the
nation.
Since then, men’s crew has returned from a few years of
dormancy in the mid-90s to being nationally recognized. In 2001,
UCLA finished 14th out of 24 teams and improved last year to finish
12th.
In his seventh year as head coach, Erinn McMahan sees his team
making strong improvements and growing more competitive with each
stroke.
Added as a varsity sport last year, the women’s crew team
has collaborated with the men’s team to share its
school-sponsored resources.
“It is great to have a women’s crew team,”
McMahan said. “The men’s program has no bitterness with
Title IX; there should be equity.”
In 1972, Title IX was enacted to end to sexual discrimination
and has since changed college sports programs, as schools are now
required to allocate equal resources and funding to men’s and
women’s sports.
Loss of funding has kept men’s crew from maintaining its
status as one of the nation’s top programs, but their
dedication and hard work propels them to return to greatness.
Currently, Berkeley has the top-ranked program, providing UCLA with
its toughest competition in the Pac-10.
Although the season doesn’t begin until spring, the rowers
are anticipating an important match against USC this weekend. While
most sports fans at the two rival schools will be focusing on the
football game, the men’s crew team will be going for its
third consecutive win against the Trojans.
An exceptional tradition occurs at the end of each race ““
the losing team removes the shirts off their back and rewards the
winners for a well fought race.
Dedication, competition and good times will be present this
Saturday at 7 a.m. in Marina del Rey.