Enjoying the California sunshine, the Bulldogs won both their races during day one of the San Diego Crew Classic Regatta. Racing concludes tomorrow, Sunday, March 24th, with both crews racing for their respective cups.
Racing for the Copley Cup, the 1V event, Yale crossed the line ahead of Stanford with a time of 5:59.4. Stanford finished in 6:13.4.
Racing for the Sharp Cup, the 2V event, Yale triumphed over the Naval Academy, UCSD, UCSB, and San Diego State, with a time of 6:06.1. The Naval Academy finished second in 6:23.1.
This event serves an important role for the Bulldogs, allowing the team to face top talent from across the country early on in the sprint season. Competing against crews from Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, and Northeastern, the Elis have a special opportunity to put their winter training to the test.
Assistant Coach Sam Baum, a native Californian himself, emphasized the race's significance to Yale. "It is an opportunity to see where we stand and move forward," he said. With just over two months until the IRA National Championships and the Yale-Harvard Regatta, the heavies are putting themselves in the racing mindset.
Baum gives the race director, Luke Walton, much credit for "getting top teams back to the race by adding a dual racing format to Saturday." Unlike many large regattas where multiple crews line up together, the 1V event broke crews into pairs. This alteration adds a unique competitive dimension to the regatta.
Racing continues tomorrow. The 2V races at 9:28 am (PST). The 1V races at 10:40 am (PST).
Results can be found here or by entering this in your browser: http://online.regattamaster.com/Pages/Races.aspx?regattaID=1306
By Izak Epstein '19, Sports Publicity Assistant. You can contact him at izak.epstein@yale.edu
