Into the Great Northwest

The Orange Men and Women’s V8s and 2V8s are in Seattle this weekend to battle giants. Coach Dave Reischman’s #7 Varsity Eight takes on #1 Washington and Oxford (“ yes, that Oxford,” Reischman said in an email to SU Crew supporters. ) The JV will race the Huskies and Oregon State. Coach Kris Sanford’s unranked Varsity Eight battles #7 Washington and Oxford. The 2V goes against the Huskies and Western Washington.

Click here: http://www.suathletics.com/news/2010/4/28/MROW_0428101335.aspx
for a preview, lineups and schedule from suathletics.com.

Washington’s Men made a definitive statement last weekend with a solid win over #2 Cal and will look to make another on Saturday against Oxford and Syracuse. Oxford is likely still smarting from an upset loss to Cambridge in “The Boat Race” a few weeks back. Reischman says the Oxford crew is almost all the same oarsmen who rowed in that one.

Sanford’s varsity will be looking to show improvement against a very good Washington team and the international power of Oxford, after a third place finish at the Big East Championships last Sunday.

All SU boats go in as underdogs. All will be looking for the upset but also looking for a solid race and momentum going into the Eastern Sprints.

Live Coverage

Crew and Rowing are big in Seattle and there will be a variety of broadcast and internet coverage. Here’s a link Coach Reischman passed on from the Huskies website about that coverage and more. http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-crew/spec-rel/042610aaa.html

For those of us not in the Great Northwest, here’s something else to try. Since KJR Radio is carrying the races live, go to KJR’s website http://www.950kjr.com/mediaplayer/?station=KJR-AM&action=listenlive&channel_title= and we should be able to listen live to stroke-by-stroke coverage.

Remember, it’s Pacific Daylight Time so the races start at 2:10 Eastern time, etc.

Homecoming for Sanford, Reischman

It’s a homecoming for both coaches. Even though she grew up in the SU boathouse with her dad, Coach Bill Sanford, Kris Sanford rowed and starred for Washington during her collegiate career. For those who didn’t know it, her SU Athletics bio tells us “At Washington, she was the stroke of the 1987 and 1988 National Collegiate Championship varsity eight. Her teams won four straight Pac-10 titles.

“In 1996, Sanford was named to the University of Washington and Pac-10 All-Decade crew teams. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Washington in 1988.”
Reischman likes to describe himself as a “farm boy from Washington.” He went to high school in Arlington, a city of 11,000 or so in Snohomish County, north of Seattle. He rowed for Gonzaga in Spokane and graduated summa cum laude in 1987 with a degree in computer science. He later was director of rowing at his alma mater for five years before moving on to Oregon State and then to SU.

Both coaches are likely to spend much more time pushing their crews to be competitive than catching up with old friends this weekend.

Opening Day?

For those (including this writer) who’d wondered, “How can this be Opening Day?” the answer that it’s Opening Day for boating season in Washington. The big real estate development company Windermere has been sponsoring this event for some time, thus the Opening Day/Windermere Cup competition. It’s the first time for both SU’s men and women to be involved.

More: http://huskycrew.com/stewards_enclosure10.htm

Road Warriors, Top Opponents

The SU men, who have no home races this year,are in their second West Coast trip of the season. The varsity eight opened the season at the San Diego Crew Classic. SU’s race with #1 Washington means the Orange will have raced the top three crews in the nation this year, long before the IRA. SU was third at San Diego to #2 Cal and #3 Brown in a fairly tight final.