SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The UC San Diego women’s rowing team might have received more praise for its fundraising efforts than racing ability Saturday but certainly succeeded in both aspects at the sixth annual Row for the Cure event on Mission Bay.
Both the men and women squads of Triton crew collaborated to host Saturday’s fundraiser at North Ski Beach. The event raised more than $30,000, money which will go directly to providing the San Diego area with a mobile van carrying a digitized mammogram to serve uninsured and underinsured women.
More than 400 athletes, between the ages of 14 and 82, participated Saturday. While the fundraising efforts are still being measured, the team with the honor of raising the most money has yet to be determined.
There were races to be won Saturday and women’s crew picked up victories in two four-person boats, lightweight division and novice division.
“I am very pleased with how today went,” head coach Pattie Pinkerton said. “The bottom line was that we raised a lot of money and secondly, I thought our team did well. We wait to do our speed work until later in the season and it was pretty clear that the other teams competing today had gotten in some of that training already. We’re rowing strong right now and we are right where we want to be.”
The boat in the lightweight division was coxed by freshman Sneha Somaseker and she was backed by 4-seat sophomore Jesi Bennett, 3-seat sophomore Wanda Chin, 2-seat junior Andrea Lin and Eunice Aquino at bow.
The winning novice boat featured five freshman: coxswain Katie Tanaka, 4-seat Elizabeth Longo, 3-seat Brittany Hernandez, 2-seat Lauren Tarantino, and Cory Davis at bow.
The University of San Diego came out victorious in the varsity eight race and also picked up a win in the varsity four. The Tritons placed second in the varsity four, finishing 15 seconds behind USD in the 4.5 kilometer race.
UCSD women’s crew will be in action next on March 8 to face off against UC Irvine and Long Beach State. That regatta starts at 8 a.m. and will be held in Long Beach, Calif.