The Pac-12 Challenge put UCLA women’s rowing to the test, as the Bruins clinched two wins out of a total of eight races at Redwood Shores Lagoon on Saturday.
UCLA had a set of four races in the morning against Duke and UC Berkeley, while the second set of four races in the afternoon was against the Golden Bears alone. The Bruins had both of their varsity eight boats and both of their varsity four boats race in the two sets.
The two UCLA victories came against Duke for both varsity eight boats. The first boat beat the Blue Devils by about six seconds while the second won by a narrower four seconds.
The afternoon races brought losses for all four Bruin boats. Each boat had a bigger gap between it and its opponent during these late races when compared to those in the morning.
Neither varsity four boat was able to bring home the win for UCLA against Duke or Cal. The first varsity four was 11.5 seconds behind the Blue Devils in the morning set, which is the closest any varsity four boat got to its opponent.
Against the Bears, the smallest margin of loss for the Bruins’ varsity four boats was 16.9 seconds against Cal’s third varsity four boat. UCLA’s second varsity four boat finished with a time of 7:48.10 while Cal finished at 7:31.20.
After sweeping the opening weekends, the Bruins seemed to have finally met their match – unable to win with ease like the past two dual-meets.