Rowing Concludes Day One at Windermere Crew Classic

April 9, 2005

Redwood City, CA – Clemson’s rowing team competed in six duel races during the first day of the third annual Windermere Crew Classic on Saturday. The Tigers’ highlight of the afternoon occurred when the novice 8+ team won their second race of the day, a landmark win over national power Washington.

“The novice 8+ was obviously outstanding,” said Susie Lueck, head coach at Clemson. “They set another program first by beating Washington. It’s been a very exciting event to be a part of. There has been great competition from nationally respected programs. It’s an honor for us to be invited.”

The novice 8+ first Lueck referred to was the first win ever for the Clemson rowing program over Washington, her alma mater. The last time the novice squads raced from both schools was at the San Diego Crew Classic in 2004, with Washington claiming the victory. But Saturday proved to be different for the Clemson novice program, as the Tigers led from start to finish. Clemson led by almost an entire boat length at the 1,000m mark before the Huskies slowly crept to within a half-boat length. Despite a strong sprint from Washington, the Tigers maintained the half-boat length lead to pull out the landmark victory. Clemson finished with a time of 7:18.08, with Washington at 7:20.67.

The first race of the day for Clemson was the varsity 8+ versus UCLA. The Bruins’ varsity 8+ was ranked 13th in Wednesday’s US Rowing/CRCA coaches’ poll. UCLA finished in a time of 6:40.25, with the Tigers right behind at 6:42.99.

“The varsity 8+ had a solid performance versus UCLA,” Lueck said. “A lot of people took notice of where our program is today.”

The varsity 8+ also faced California on Saturday, but finished over 20 seconds back of the squad from Berkeley, CA. The Golden Bears, a top 10 team nationally, had open water by the 1,000m mark.

The second varsity 8+ came up short in a pair of close races Saturday. UCLA’s second varsity 8+ finished just ahead of Clemson with a time of 6:47.16 in the morning. The Tigers made a strong push, but the Burins essentially won the race with its performance over the first 500 meters. Clemson finished at 6:49.74. In their second event facing the Golden Bears from California, the Tigers’ finished at 7:09.03, just over three seconds behind Cal (7:05.80).

“The second varsity 8+ had a great, close race against Cal,” Lueck said. “Had they rowed like that in the morning (against UCLA), they probably would have won.”

The novice 8+ was defeated in its morning race with California, with the Golden Bears finishing in a time of 6:52.33 while the Tigers came in at 7:02.93.

The Tiger rowers return to action for three races on Sunday morning. Clemson and Stanford will meet in the second varsity 8+ to kick off the final day of competition, then in the varsity 8+, before the novice 8+ concludes the Tigers’ racing against UCLA.

Clemson Saturday Results V8: UCLA 6:40.25, Clemson 6:42.99 2V8: UCLA 6:47.16, Clemson 6:49.74 N8: California (Berkeley) 6:52.33, Clemson 7:02.93 V8: California (Berkeley) 6:46.18, Clemson 7:06.77 2V8: California (Berkeley) 7:05.80, Clemson 7:09.03 N8: Clemson 7:18.08, Washington 7:20.67

Clemson Sunday Schedule 2V8 (9:00 AM) Clemson vs. Stanford V8 (10:32 AM) Clemson vs. Stanford N8 (11:48 AM) Clemson vs. UCLA