SARASOTA, Florida – The Cal women's rowing team brought its speed to the east coast, showing strong racing from all three boats on the opening day of the 2018 NCAA Rowing Championships at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida. The Golden Bears won their heats in all three races to automatically advance to Saturday's A/B semifinals. Cal is one of five schools to automatically advance all three boats through to the semis, and joins Washington and Texas as the only teams to sweep all three events.

The full field and heat assignments for the A/B semifinals will be set later this afternoon following the completion of the repechage. The A/B semifinals kick off at 8:36 a.m. ET/5:36 a.m. PT with the varsity eight and will conclude with the varsity four around 10:24 a.m. ET/7:24 a.m. PT. The top three boats from each of the A/B semifinals will advance to Sunday's grand final with a chance to race for an NCAA title.

For timing and real time updates throughout the weekend, visit the NCAA Championships Central site.

Rested and at full strength, the varsity eight set the tone for Cal in the Bears' first race of the competition. After jumping out to an early lead in the first 500 meters, Cal steadily added to its advantage and led the field by open water at the midway point. From then, the Bears showed their consistency and composure in closing the race down the stretch for a first-place finish.

Cal carried that energy into the second race of the day, with a strong performance from the second varsity eight. Racing against a field that featured west coast rivals Stanford and Washington State, the Bears and Cardinal established themselves as the race leaders early on. Yet once again, it was Cal who took control and established a half-length lead by the 1,000-meter mark. The Bears continued to gain water on the Cardinal and crossed the finish line first.

The final race of the morning saw the Bears' varsity four in command from start to finish, topping second-place Michigan by open water. Cal took second in the varsity four at the 2017 NCAA Championships and has taken gold in this even three times, the most recent coming in 2016.

All racing at the NCAA Rowing Championships will be streamed live at NCAA.com. Live results will also be available online, while fans can follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWRowing) and Instagram (@CalWRowing) for updates throughout the weekend.

Day 1 Results
*Automatically advanced to A/B Semifinals
 

Varsity 8+ - Heat #3
1.	California*	6:15.891
2.	Michigan*	6:22.198
3.	Virginia	6:25.548
4.	Indiana	6:37.616
5.	Northeastern	6:46.903
6.	Jacksonville	7:07.441
Second Varsity 8+ - Heat #2
1.	California*	6:31.505
2.	Stanford*	6:33.335
3.	Wisconsin	6:40.165
4.	Washington State	6:42.515
5.	Gonzaga	6:56.296
Varsity 4+ - Heat #2
1.	California*	7:10.722
2.	Michigan*	7:14.729
3.	Wisconsin	7:34.644
4.	Syracuse	7:45.774
5.	UCF	7:49.455

Saturday Schedule (All times EST)
8:36 a.m. – Varsity 8+ A/B Semifinal #1
8:48 a.m. – Varsity 8+ A/B Semifinal #2
9:24 a.m. – Second V8+ A/B Semifinal #1
9:36 a.m. – Second V8+ A/B Semifinal #2
10:12 a.m. – Varsity 4+ A/B Semifinal #1
10:24 a.m. – Varsity 4+ A/B Semifinal #2