As the 2016 rowing season has drawn to a close, the Friends of UCI Rowing, Coach AJ Brooks and the Men’s Crew thank all of our alumni for their support!

This year we were able to take four boats back east to the ACRA National Championship in Georgia. After WIRA the boys broke into smaller boats and were able to compete within themselves at a very high level. Not only did this invigorate the team but you could see a direct change in the culture. Everyone who was going east was dedicated to a task and that was to bring home some hardware.

The Men’s Varsity 4+ won their heat with the fastest time of the day at 6:38.8, moving directly into the A/B Semifinal where again they won & set the fastest time of 6:40.3. The team to beat was Georgia Tech who won the Dad Vail Regatta and was deemed the kings of the east. The boys were up for the challenge, as they took down the Yellow Jackets to win the National Championship in a blazing time of 6:37.8.

The Men’s Novice 4+ won their heat with a time of 6:54.3 (2nd fastest time of the day) and moved directly into the A Final. The novices ultimately claimed 4th in the A Final after battling for 2nd position most of the race.

The Men’s Pair, composed of two 4-year oarsman, were able to claim 12th in Nationals after battling a tough weekend of racing.

The Men’s Double was a surprise, in that both of the oarsman were taught to scull only three weeks prior to the regatta. The double just missed a direct qualification to the A Final directly from the heats by 2 seconds. They were forced into the Reps where their backs were against the wall. They needed to win the Rep to go into the A Final and they did just that. Once in the A Final they gave it their all and placed 3rd, bringing home a Bronze Medal from the National Championship.

Click HERE to see our full article, including an interview with Senior Oarsman Anthony Lewis on his experience rowing for UCI!

Some name spelling issues on this email blast have been brought to our attention… apologies to the athletes affected!

In the MV4+
“Khalid Eessallad” should be “Khalid Elassaad”

In the MN4+
“Dean Defuira” should be “Dean Defuria”
“James Wichenaeuser ” should be “James Wickenhaeuser”

In the M2x
“Mathew Gill” should be “Matthew Gill”
“Ved Kastala” should be “Ved Kirloskar”