Women’s rowing has shot to prove itself in weekend race against Minnesota

Nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine lakes will lay dormant in
Minnesota this weekend, but not Lake Phalen.

Instead, the lake will become a testing ground for the distance
the UCLA women’s rowing team has travelled since becoming a
varsity sport in 2002.

This weekend’s upcoming dual meet between UCLA and the
University of Minnesota marks the first time the rowing team has
raced outside of California since the early 1990s, when it lost its
varsity designation.

The most beneficial aspect of the regatta for the Bruins is that
it may offer them a chance to compare favorably to a Big-10 power,
the Golden Gophers ““ which will, in turn, give UCLA a better
sense of where it ranks nationally.

“If we could do well against a team in another region,
it’s really going to raise people’s awareness about our
up-and-coming program,” UCLA head coach Amy Fuller said.
“Whatever we do against Minnesota, we can then compare it to
how they’ve done.”

Unfortunately for UCLA, a formidable Gopher team isn’t its
only opponent this weekend. The Bruins will have to battle the cold
weather, possibly unfavorable water conditions, and unfamiliar
boats ““ they will not be using their own. However, the team
remains confident in its abilities.

“I think we’re mentally tough enough for (those
problems) not to affect us,” varsity eight co-captain Irene
Condella said. “We’re going out there to race
(Minnesota), and it shouldn’t matter what the conditions
are.”

The team will be sending its two most successful boats to
Minnesota this weekend: the varsity and novice eight boats. Both
have dominated their opponents this season, with their lone losses
coming at the San Diego Crew Classic in early April.

Last weekend, both boats outmatched UC Davis and Sacramento
State by double digit margins.

Still, the meet marks a return to the underdog role for the
Bruins, a role they haven’t really been in since the team
began its successful season in March.

In Minnesota’s last race, its varsity eight boat recorded
a second-place time of 6:42.3, a time the Bruin varsity eights have
yet to come close to matching. Minnesota has already beaten
previously ranked No. 20 Tennessee, and it also competed for the
Whittier Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic, an honor only top crews
in the nation receive.

Regardless of the outcome of this weekend, Fuller hopes UCLA
will be able to come out of the water a better team.

“Compared to where they are, and where we are, a win would
be an incredible accomplishment for us,” Fuller said.
“I think that if we can get off the water and say that (we
did our best), we’ll have given a good race that we could end
up ahead (in).”

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This weekend’s meet marks University of Minnesota’s
head coach Wendy Davis’s return to Bruin rowing, albeit on
the opposite side of the race. She was a four-year letterwinner
from 1979-82 for the Bruins, and an assistant coach for the 1982-83
season.

Davis was hired as the first head coach of the University of
Minnesota’s rowing team in 2000.