SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State rowing team had its second scrimmage of the early spring season, facing off against both University of San Diego and UC San Diego in a series of monitored race pieces.
"The Aztecs had a great day on Mission Bay today," head coach Bill Zack said. "All five of our boats executed their race plans well and got the strong results we expected. The team always sings the fight song a little louder than normal after a day like today. With three weeks to get ready to race UCLA we know what to focus on and are excited to improve."
The first eight of each school raced three across in the San Diego Crew Classic warmup stretch, racing for five minutes a total of five times. Starting right behind them were the schools' second eights doing the same workout, so the speed of all six crews could be compared.
The first three pieces were raced at 30 strokes per minute and the last two at 32 strokes per minute. Coaches could talk to their team between efforts and switch rowers between the first and second eight if they wanted to.
The Aztecs kept talented freshman Emmie Frederico in the stroke seat of the top boat but shuffled around the lineup from last weekend's scrimmage to try for more sustainable rhythm and speed. Three talented sophomores were key contributors. Ellie Alexopoulos, from London, England, moved into the seven seat, right behind Frederico. Seattle native Helen Bauer kept the rhythm going in the six seat, and Alexa Dietz, from Vancouver, Washington, once again rowed in the three seat. Senior co-captain Maia Graham, who raced in the first four against Minnesota, moved into the five seat to join co-captains Kaytlin Barker (two seat) and Hannah Broadland (coxswain) in the new look first eight. Senior Laura Keane remained in bow while junior Julia Camillucci moved from five seat to the four seat.
In a separate stretch of Mission Bay, the Aztecs boated a first and second four against a four from UC San Diego. Going back and forth along the San Diego Crew Classic part of Mission Bay, the Aztec third eight raced against their counterparts from USD and UCSD. The workout for the fours and eights was the same five times five minutes, but at a lower stroke eight of 28 strokes per minute. The third eights from all the schools contained a lot of first year rowers, who gained invaluable experience in side-by-side racing in advance of the first official races.
The Aztecs return to action on Saturday, March 7 in Marina del Rey. They will be facing off against the UCLA Bruins in UCLA's Centennial Regatta.