Could Rowing Be The Next Big Thing on the Central Coast?

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel with my university’s women’s rowing team to the prominent Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, PA. While UC San Diego had a challenging Friday and Saturday, rowing against East Coast powerhouses such as Drexel, Delaware, and Virginia, it was a great experience for our student-athletes, allowing them to be exposed to one of the sport’s highest level at the collegiate stage.

Being an Assistant Athletics Director has allowed me to work with many different sports teams I never personally participated in or was exposed to growing up. After three years of being involved in the San Diego Crew Classic, one of the largest regattas on the West Coast, I have come to truly appreciate the sport and have very much enjoyed the rowing community.

Last minute check before UC San Diego takes the water at Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia.

The sport itself is absolutely crazy if you think about it. Practice begins at 5:00 AM on the water — by far the earliest practice time for any sport that I can think of. Not only are we talking early morning starts, these collegiate student-athlete rowers have one of the longest seasons. At UC San Diego, rowing begins in October and concludes in May. That is eight months of training for only a handful of races which last somewhere between six and seven minutes. Then there is the actual act of rowing. One, two, four or eight athletes in one boat, rowing in sync with each other. I cannot tell you the last time I did anything in sync with anyone. It’s all about the technique, staying together, and the team. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that in a training session if you are tired, you are not allowed to rest for a few strokes, unlike the many times I stopped swimming in a water polo game to catch my breath — you have to keep up with your teammates and not stop.

Coaching this sport is interesting as well. Coaches sit in a launch boat at every practice, trailing the rowers and using a megaphone to communicate. While that part seems somewhat normal, on race day it is another story. Due to the length of the race, and because launch boats are not allowed on the course, coaching becomes challenging. A coach can communicate with their athletes on land prior to their warm-up, but once they are in the boat, that its – it’s in the hands of the athletes and one can only hope all the 5:00AM coaching translates to a win. After the boat is set, the coach has approximately one hour to walk to the finish line to view a small portion of the race. It is later they receive 500 meter splits (not to mention every race, although the same length, can result in a different time because of water and wind conditions).

UC San Diego winning the Varsity 8 Petite Final.

A major perk of the rowing community are the parents. They are supportive and involved, but not that annoying involved where you want to tell them to take a seat and let the coach speak. These parents rise early, bring massive amounts of food, and cheer on all the athletes when a regatta takes place. The best part – they are so inviting. My first regatta I thought I was going to stick out like sore thumb: I didn’t know what to wear: do I go for the Hamptons look and what type of shoes do I wear? I didn’t know where the starting line was. I had no idea how a day of racing would be structured and what the difference was between a grand final and a petite final? These parents took me in, showed me the ropes, and in no time I was motivated enough to hop on an erg at the gym the next day and give it a go- I was all in.

So, after expanding my rowing horizons, traveling with the Tritons to Philadelphia and having two wonderful days on the water enjoying this sport immensely, I began to think: why is rowing not big on the central coast? We have the water: Santa Margarita Lake, Lopez Lake and apparently Morro Bay. We have the weather. We have Central Coast-ians who are incredibly active year-round. So why is rowing not popular?

As our team was de-rigging their eight-man boat, getting it ready for the cross country trip home, I couldn’t stop thinking about this concept. In the middle of my deep thoughts, one of our student-athletes introduced me to her aunt and uncle who live in Philadelphia. We got to talking and it turns out, not only did they attend Cal Poly in the late 80’s, early 90’s, but they rowed for the team! I was shocked. I needed to know everything about their experience. They told me that the team was club and that they rowed at Morro Bay. They recounted how fun their experience was and how beautiful pre-dawn rowing sessions were with the rock in the background.

After talking to our student-athletes’ aunt and uncle for a bit, I knew I needed to get to the bottom of what happened to the Mustang rowers. It turns out that the mid 90’s did not fare well for the club team, experiencing many setbacks that ultimately shut down the club. I found a 2007 Mustang News article that stated that the team had been reformed, but unfortunately the club seemed to never get back on its feet again. I even called the Recreation Department to find out more information, but they couldn’t provide me with much, saying the club has been nonexistent for almost 10 years. Maybe they just simply couldn’t field a boat, but it sounds like they tried.

Tritons coming together for one last cheer before heading back to San Diego.

What I appreciate about the Central Coast, and what I ultimately benefited from as a high school athlete, is that the Central Coast is not afraid of giving non-mainstream sports a chance (whereas many other areas nationwide would only support traditional sports only). In the mid-90’s girl’s water polo exploded on the high school stage, giving young girls like me a chance to excel. The now defunct Northern League and Los Padres League took a hold of this new sport and grew it immensely amongst the high schools. Boy’s volleyball experienced the same phenomenon on the Central Coast, even now fielding teams at the Junior High level. I have so much pride in San Luis Obispo County and Santa Maria County because I was given a chance to play an obscure sport and the community embraced it.

The benefits associated with girl’s water polo and boy’s volleyball would be similar if rowing was able to take off. Rowing would allow young athletes a chance to experience an unconventional sport, and perhaps give them an opportunity to participate at the collegiate level. Rowing would bring the community together, including parents and those adults interested taking up the sport. Rowing would highlight our beautiful lakes, our wonderful towns and our active community members. Rowing would attract tourism during large regattas that would take place at Santa Margarita Lake or perhaps Morro Bay. A rowing explosion would give the Central Coast yet another reason why we live in one of the best areas in the nation.

Will rowing be the next big thing? I say let’s give it a chance.

Danielle is an Assistant Athletics Director for External Relations at UC San Diego and an Arroyo Grande native.