Head coach Zach Johnson entered two boats with even lineups in the Men's Open Eight Final and the Triton crews finished in 12th and 15th place, respectively. UCSD's top boat finished with a time of 16:06, while the second boat clocked in at 16:17.

Despite heavy rainfall during the race, the Tritons held their own competing against the likes of Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Orange Coast College and the University of San Diego, among others.

"It was a really good opening day for us," Johnson said. "The guys felt good, the rowing was good and I thought we really executed well today. We were about 15 seconds behind our top competion and for this point in the season, that's about where we need to be."

The top boat from Cal won the event at 14:31, while a national boat finished second at 14:53 and Stanford's lead boat placed third at 14:54. Both Triton boats finished in front of crews from USD, UC Davis, UC Irvine, OCC and UC Santa Barbara.

The Tritons will return to competition in 2012 with the San Diego City Championships on Saturday, February 25 at Mission Bay.