MEN’S 2024 SPRING SEASON RECAP
PAC-12 INVITATIONAL
Stanford Men closed out Day One of the Pac-12 Invitational by sweeping Wisconsin while opening its home season. The No. 8 Cardinal raced its first and second varsity eight boats and finished with a split. The Cardinal swept No. 15 Wisconsin the afternoon after both lost to No. 9 Syracuse in the morning. Stanford concludes the two-day, six-school event on Sunday against La Salle, with the 1V8 at 9:20 a.m. and 2V8 at 9:50 a.m. Cal and Oregon round out the invitational. Stanford's fastest time of the day came in the 1V8 race against Syracuse. The Cardinal earned a time of 5:51.5. In the 1V8 dual against Wisconsin, Stanford carried a narrow lead throughout and finally clocked in at 5:53.6. The Badgers were nearly three seconds behind.
OREGON STATE DUAL
Both Stanford Men’s varsity eights beat Oregon State in their annual matchup at Dexter Lake in central Oregon. Stanford raced three boats for the first time this season. The 1V8 and 2V8 earned 10-second victories over their Oregon State counterparts, followed by the 3V4+ in action for the first time, finishing fourth among a five-boat field. Because of a mishap, the 1V8 had to be rerun. The Oregon State boat hit debris at 750 meters, and lost its skeg, causing the boat to veer off-course. The race was halted and restarted 40 minutes later. Instead, Stanford's second varsity, with Wilder Fulford at stroke, became the opening-event winner. However, the crosswind that benefited the Cardinal 2V8 changed to a headwind by the time the first varsity finally raced. In both the first and second varsity races, Stanford took control at 500 meters on the way to controlling the action. Luke Smith, a freshman, rowed stroke for the Stanford 1V8 for the first time, after sitting in the bow seat in Stanford's most recent previous action, at the Pac-12 Invitational on April 6-7.
"We've trained hard for the last three weeks since the Pac-12 Invite, and we boated some new configurations of athletes in our Varsity and Second Varsity Eights today," said Ted Sobolewski, Stanford's Farwell Family Director of Men's Rowing. "We still have work to do, but there was definite progress across the board and we're happy to come away with wins in both eights."
BIG ROW
For the 2024 Big Row we had one of our largest alumni turnouts! We also had the privilege of hosting Senior Day for the athletes. For those of you who were there or watched the livestream, the weather was unusually rough for sunny California, with fairly heavy rain and wind gusts, particularly across the lagoon. The livestream camera drone also wasn’t in service due to the weather. But, for anyone who has rowed before, we know this doesn’t stop races or practices like it might for other sports!
In the annual renewal of a rivalry that began 120 years ago, the Stanford men's rowing team dropped a pair of races to Cal in the Big Row. In the 1V8 matchup, the No. 4 Golden Bears clocked 5:50.9 to No. 12 Stanford's 6:07.2. The 2V8 matchup had a seven-second difference, 6:03.3 to Stanford's 6:10.4. The teams rowed against a headwind and rain coming in hard on 9-12-knot winds with gusts of 17 knots. Wilder Fulford, a sophomore from London, made his debut at stroke for the Cardinal IV8, moving up from that same seat on the 2V8. Caspar Griffin was in the bow. Overall, Stanford's 1V8 boat included four freshmen (including coxswain Kannon Alford), three sophomores, and two seniors. Overall this season, against one of the toughest schedules in the country, the 1V8 and 2V8 boats are each 3-9. Eight seniors were honored at the Arrillaga Family Rowing and Sailing Center. Stanford's seniors are Kyle Bergstedt, Ben Felter, Joseph Guman, Jacopo Mascitelli, Joey O'Brien, Travis Senf, Tibor Thompson, and Nick Woehrle.
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Both the #2 Stanford Openweight Women and the #13 Stanford Men competed in Sacramento for the final Pac-12 Rowing Championship, before heading next year to the ACC Conference. While we don’t know the schedule for next year, it is highly likely that while the conference might disperse, midseason races against the teams at this event will likely continue in some form in the future.
The #13 Stanford Men came into the event fielding three boats – two eights and a four – the largest squad they’ve had at the race in recent history. With a team of 4-5 freshmen in the 1V8+, having graduated some elite seniors like Peter Chatain ‘23, and with a grudge match between #2 UW and #4 Cal, this was going to be a tough race. In the end, the 1V8+ and 2V8+ earned bronze medals, and the two boats had a comparable margin compared to first-place UW, which meant the 2V8+ has shown some improvement from 2023. It is hard to tell how this result compares with East Coast teams. #6 Brown upset #1 Princeton at the Eastern Sprints by less than a 100th of a second, also beating #3 Harvard so we know the field is very competitive. We’re excited to see how the very young Stanford team progresses in this rebuilding year toward IRAs.
Read the goStanford.com writeup here.
IRA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Stanford Men progressed through the season and the IRAs were no exception. This year saw a deeper 1V4+, entering a perennial tough event due to the time trial-based heats, as well as the competition, which can include smaller varsity programs who only enter an upperclassmen-filled 1V4+ for the entire regatta. Stanford’s 1V4+ won every race they were in after the initial time trial, claiming 1st place in the 4th level final. The commentator noted the smooth rhythm laid down by stroke for the long oarsmen behind him.
The 2V8+ was very improved this year overall in its race margins during the season. At IRAs they won every race they were in after the heats, leading from wire-to-wire and claiming 1st place in the 3rd level final. We’re looking forward to seeing them break into the A/B semifinal next year and seeing what they can do!
The 1V8+ Stanford Men had been making progress all season long with a freshmen-heavy boat. For much of the season the oddsmakers would not have had them in the A/B semis. However, in the heats they made their move, besting Cornell and moving to the A/B semifinal! After this important milestone, and now in the tier of some of the best upperclassmen-filled teams, they achieved 6th place in the petite final, 12th nationally. With such a young average age of the team, the future of 2025 and beyond looks pretty bright!
Read the goStanford.com writeup here.
GO STANFORD ROWING!
