Women’s rowing deserves recognition for mooring new program

Daily Bruin File Photo The UCLA women’s rowing team successfully
completed its first NCAA season.

By Jessica Bach
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]

Nothing to lose ““ literally.

That was the reality for the UCLA women’s rowing team as
it embarked this season on a schedule that often seemed to be full
of uphill battles.

As a first-year NCAA intercollegiate team, the Bruins were
forced to start at the painful beginning at the bottom of the pack,
facing schools with long-standing programs packed with scholarship
rowers.

In the face of these intimidating schools, the Bruins had to
start from scratch and plant the seedlings for the future of the
program.

They weren’t supposed to make an impact. At first, some
coaches didn’t even include them in their race plans,
thinking the Bruins would be at the back of the pack the entire
race.

But that was only at first. It quickly became clear that UCLA
was here to compete.

In their second meet of the season, at the Berg Cup, the Varsity
came in third behind San Diego and Orange Coast. Also, both the
Novice and JV raced to second places.

“In our first few races, we weren’t really sure
where we would fit in,” varsity rower Kathy Kennedy said.

The progress continued with the San Diego Crew Classic, one of
the biggest mainland regattas in the nation. There the Novice
shined when it qualified for the Grand Finals.

“It is just really exciting,” first-year Novice
rower Monica Grova said. “We wanted to prove that it was
important that we were there. We weren’t expecting to win the
Grand Final, but we don’t want to be taken lightly,
either.”

The Bruins continued when they hosted the Miller Cup. The
competition was packed with teams that had plagued UCLA such as San
Diego State and Loyola Marymount. But it was this meet in which
Bruins made their mark, with the Novice winning and JV coming in
second, both in the Grand Finals. Also, the Varsity won the Petite
Finals.

“For the first time they really believed that “˜You
know what? We don’t have to be behind,'” Bruin
head coach Amy Fuller said. “That’s a really exciting
mark for us.”

Their season ended two weeks ago, with the Pac-10 championships
in Rancho Cordova, Calif. There, the Bruins made their final
statement when they had both the Novice and Varsity 4 qualify for
the Grand Finals, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Both the
Varsity 8 and the JV competed in the Petite Finals where the JV
came in fourth, and the Varsity raced to a sixth-place finish.

But their results were not the important matter; it was more
significant that they were there competing with the top teams in
the West. Also, the Bruins ended their season at sixth in the
Pac-10, in front of USC, which finished seventh. Previously, it was
said UCLA had no chance of beating the Trojans.

“It really showed how far we came,” Kennedy said.
“The Pac-10s showed everyone else that we can stay with the
rest of the pack.”

Also in the conference championships, sophomore varsity rower
Irene Condella was named to the all-Pac-10 team.

“I think that Irene has proven on and off the water what a
great athlete she is,” Fuller said. “For her weight,
she has the best erg score. She is a dependable person and deserves
this recognition.”

Starting from the bottom and working its way up, UCLA did not
have previous titles to defend nor did it have all-star rowers
returning, but instead, it built a foundation to work from and
began to establish itself as a threat.

From the start of the season the Bruins were not expected to
win, nor were they expected to make a dent in the Pac-10 race. But
with several Novice triumphs and steadily progressing Varsity and
JV boats, the team proved that UCLA could no longer be
dismissed.