LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego men’s and women’s rowing teams will be kicking off their 2008 seasons as hosts of the sixth annual Row for the Cure at North Ski Beach on Mission Bay this Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.
The event, presented by the San Diego Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in collaboration with UCSD’s rowing squads, was originally scheduled for Oct. 28, 2007. It had to be rescheduled to the spring due to concerns about air quality following the wildfires that swept the region.
The women’s crew team at UCSD opened up its fall season on Oct. 21 at the prestigious Head of the Charles in Boston, Mass. The Varsity Eight boat finished 23rd of 44 boats while the crew of Sarah Gosling (Stroke), Jaime Bigwood (3-seat), Kelly Hansen (2), Isabel Cole (Bow) and coxswain Lisa Geary finished 27th in the international field.
On Nov. 4 the team participated at the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival where the Tritons won the Lightweight women’s single event and finished fourth in the Lightweight Women’s Eight.
Much of the normal fall schedule was cancelled because of the San Diego county fires.
This Saturday, rowers and kayakers of all ages and skill levels will participate in timed races and prizes will be awarded to the top finishers in each category. Participants are encouraged to raise pledge money to benefit the Komen Foundation, and all community members are invited to attend the event.
“Breast cancer is a disease that has affected the families of several of our team members in recent years,” said Pattie Pinkerton, head coach of the women’s team and Row for the Cure coordinator. “As a team, we wanted to find a way for the San Diego water sports community to support Komen San Diego in their fight against breast cancer, so six years ago we launched Row for the Cure. Since then we’ve raised more than $80,000 for Komen San Diego, and at the same time we’ve gotten the community involved in a cause that is very near and dear to us.”
Row for the Cure® regattas, hosted by local rowing clubs, are third-party fundraising events benefiting local affiliates of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Since the regatta’s inception in 1994 on Portland’s Willamette River, Row for the Cure® has expanded to 11 U.S. cities, raising more than $500,000 in the fight to eradicate breast cancer as a life threatening disease.
“One out of every eight women that we know will be diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Glenn Merry, executive director of USRowing, at the 2006 USRowing Masters National Championships in Seattle. “With more than 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer every year, USRowing is committed to helping masters rowers fight this disease. If we can help save one life by encouraging women rowers to get their annual mammogram, then we will have succeeded.”
In the U.S., Portland, Seattle, Pullman (Wash.), Philadelphia, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Austin, Jacksonville, Grand Rapids, Dayton and Westerville (Ohio) host Row for the Cure® regattas, while Frankfurt, Germany, will host Europe’s first Row for the Cure® this fall.
“People tell me that they enjoy doing a sport they love and supporting a great cause at the same time,” said Row for the Cure® founder Kathy Frederick, a masters rower at Portland’s Station L Rowing Club.
To learn more about San Diego’s Row for the Cure® regatta, please visit www.RowForTheCure.com or www.USRowing.org.
Courtesy: UCSD
