US Collegiate Men’s Rowing – Week 5

With a brilliant weekend’s slate of racing across men’s and women’s rowing, the racing did not disappoint. With upsets on every coast this week’s racing was one for the record books and sets things up wonderfully for the season ahead.

The Dual

With the top two teams in the country facing off in one of the oldest rivalries in college sport, there was bound to be fireworks as the 113th edition of the Cal-UW dual. The earlier races were split as #1 California won in the freshman eight and the fourth varsity, but momentum swung towards the #2 Huskies as they claimed the second and third varsity crowns.

In the main event, it was a tight race throughout, as the Golden Bears took an early lead, they could not shake the defending champions, leading at all three intermediate timings, with just over a second with 500 metres to go. However, the Huskies unleashed a mighty sprint, moving through their oldest rivals in the intense environment of the Montlake Cut to claim the victory by just two seats in a photo finish. 

Lake Moray Invitational

In one of the last ‘big’ invitationals of the regular season, #7 Dartmouth played host to five strong schools from the Eastern Sprints league. The big green emerged unscathed from the event, leaving as one of just two undefeated varsity eights remaining in the country after open water victories over #10 Syracuse, #17 Columbia and #15 Wisconsin. However, it may be the latter who left Vermont with the biggest smiles on their face as they upset both #12 Boston University and #13 Georgetown, while running the hosts closer than any other opposition announcing clearly that the badgers are back in their second year under head coach Beau Hoopman.

Carnegie Cup

Back in the traditional Ivy League dialling scene, the #5 Princeton Tigers welcomed #9 Yale and #14 Cornell to compete for the Carnegie Cup on its namesake lake. All three crews were coming off a loss in their last outing and looking to restart their momentum heading towards the championship season.

Ultimately, Princeton got the best showing winning across the top three eights, but Yale will be pleased to be improving, sitting just 2.1 seconds behind their traditional rival in fast conditions, despite their recent troubles.

About The Author

Fraser Innes

Fraser joined the JRN team in September 2022 and regularly writes about domestic and international rowing with particular specialisation on US Collegiate Rowing having launched JRN’s coverage and being a staple on the End of the Island’s series on the topic. He has been involved with the sport since 2016 at George Heriot’s School and the Universities of Glasgow and Wisconsin.

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