Windermere Coverage

Here comes what’s becoming the granddaddy of all early season regattas: the Windermere Collegiate Crew Classic at Redwood Shores, California. (This is not to be confused with Seattle’s Windermere Cup held in May.) What happens at the Crew Classic is two days of all-out 2k racing in three separate categories: heavy men’s, open women’s, and women’s lights.

Several schools are invited in each category, and there’s a round-robin type racing schedule arranged beforehand. Each school races three times, twice Saturday and once Sunday, and each school usually races at least a varsity and a second varsity (excepting the lights). There are frosh/novice events, and there’s even a women’s lightweight four on the schedule.

The Redwood Shores course is a two-lane course, as close to fair as it gets, and has the oddity of requiring crews to check down their boats as soon as they cross the finish line, lest they run aground on the rocks. Did I mention the course is exactly 2km long? Rocks and shore border both ends of the lanes. To top it off, it’s a west coast regatta that brings east coast schools out to race, setting a benchmark for those oft-pondered east vs. west coast comparisons that usually crop up before national championship races. So let’s see what’s on tap.

Men’s crews
Headlining the show is #1-ranked Washington, who is racing #8 Wisconsin, #11 Trinity, and #2 Stanford in that order. Wisconsin is probably a step (but not much of one) behind any of their west coast opponents due to water’s tendency to solidify in the wintery north. We’ll see how their speed develops across the season from this regatta. The big elephant of the regatta will be the #1 vs. #2 showdown on Sunday between Washington and Stanford. The Windermere Crew Classic does serve as the dual race between UW and Stanford, which makes gives it a great atmosphere, whereas a traditional dual race over any other weekend might not draw as many spectators.

It’s also nice to see GWU come out west, and Trinity is no stranger to Windermere either. #19 Oregon State comes down from Corvallis to test their crews as well, looking for speed after being defeated by both Cal and Stanford in San Diego although they walked through Purdue to claim third. You can note the inclusion of WCC crews, UC-Davis and Gonzaga, in the varsity eight race on Saturday as well, expanding the regatta’s flavor beyond the traditional, ranked crews most likely to get invitations to Windermere. #4 California is featured in one race, against Wisconsin.

Women’s crews
Headlining the show is former #1-ranked California, who tumbled to #5 after losing to Southern California at the San Diego Crew Classic’s Jessop-Whittier Cup Grand Final. Still, #5 is better than any of the other crews here, though #7 Stanford may be within striking range after finishing a length down to Cal in the same grand final.

UCLA, Washington State, and UCF have seen their stock rise recently as well, with UCLA also showing speed in the Jessop-Whittier, Washington State’s knockout of in-state rival Washington (in admittedly horrible chop and wind), and UCF’s victory over then #7 Virginia. Washington, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Virginia, and Louisville round out the field, the latter four schools bringing a southeastern feel to the west coast. One can only presume that traditional schedules wouldn’t let any east coast invitees fly out, but perhaps later years will see the east coast crews willing to put their speed on the line out west. For the women these cross-country races are important when it comes time to hand out NCAA bids.

Lightweight women's crews
The smaller field of lightweights reflects the concurrent running of the Knecht Cup, which many lightweight programs will be competing at as well. Nevertheless, top-ranked Princeton has come out west to take on UCF, Stanford, and Loyola Marymount. With only four boats in the field, each boat will have the opportunity to race all other boats in three races. Stanford may have a new level of speed to show, coming off a sub-par season last spring. UCF will be playing catch-up to Princeton’s speed, having lost to them earlier this season, while trying to hold off Stanford. Loyola Marymount, who missed the San Diego Crew Classic, will get their first taste of ranked opposition here.

In addition to the collegiate racing, there will also be some local juniors and masters races featured during the Saturday lunch break and the Sunday afternoon session after the collegiate awards ceremony. It’s going to be two fast days of racing and interesting results, as teams from all over will be jumping on and off the water. If you can make it, you should come down to Redwood Shores this weekend!