UCLA women’s rowing is off to an undefeated start. The Bruins faced the San Diego State Aztecs on Saturday morning in a dual meet in Marina del Rey, California, and the home team came out with wins in every race on the familiar stretch of Ballona Creek.
“Being at home is a great feeling for everybody,” said coach Amy Fuller Kearney.
The Bruins raced their first, second and third varsity eight boats, as well as their A and B varsity four boats. Every UCLA boat beat SDSU by four seconds or more.
“It’s really fun to have a crowd when you go by the docks right at UCLA,” said senior first varsity eight coxswain Logan Warwick. “They’re right where it gets tough so that crowd puts a little extra pep in it.”
The first varsity eight boat started last season with a time of 6:07.87 in the season-opening dual meet at Marina del Rey, and it brought home a time of 6:15.91 Saturday to open the 2016 racing season.
[gmedia id=48]
The women said that being at home was a big factor in the their win. Not only did the location bring more supporters, but it kept the Bruins at the venue they know forward and backward.
“Having our first meet at UCLA is nice because we get to stick to our routines,” Warwick said. “We know exactly what to do and exactly where to be in the course, so it’s definitely a fun time.”
For many of the Bruins, this was their first collegiate meet and they said that they expect more improvements to come.
“For the 2V, we came out with a nice strong win,” said freshman second varsity eight coxswain Gray Strandberg. “(We were) only five seconds off of the varsity eight and our goal was six seconds, so we beat that.”
The second varsity eight team finished at 6:21.54, more than 20 seconds ahead of the Aztecs. The Bruins remained in the lead throughout the entire race and made the gap between the two teams substantially bigger around the 1,000 meter mark.
UCLA’s second varsity eight, third varsity eight and two varsity four boats easily won, but the first varsity eight found itself being challenged by San Diego State. The Bruins were able to get a slim lead at the 1,000 meter mark, and remained front for the rest of the race, winning by about a length.
“We haven’t even tapped into what we’re capable of yet,” Warwick said. “We’re just really feisty, really fired up more than ever. We’re looking forward to future races and taking it day by day for the season to come.”
For the second varsity eight boat, the meet gave them a good look at what the rest of their season could be like.
“It’s a very reassuring race for us to keep building off of this,” Strandberg said. “It establishes where we need to go for the rest of the season.”