SATURDAY, APRIL 24
SANTA CLARA VS. CAL | 9 A.M. PT | REDWOOD SHORES | REDWOOD CITY, CALIF.
LIVE VIDEO
OREGON STATE VS. CAL | 3 P.M. PT | REDWOOD SHORES | REDWOOD CITY, CALIF.
LIVE VIDEO

SUNDAY, APRIL 25
STANFORD VS. CAL | 9 A.M. PT | REDWOOD SHORES | REDWOOD CITY, CALIF.
LIVE VIDEO




The Cal men's rowing team will race Stanford in the Big Row as part of a busy weekend at Redwood Shores.

The Bears and Cardinal would typically meet in a dual race, but COVID-19 has presented scheduling challenges across the country. Cal will race against Stanford on Sunday, but before that the Bears will take on Santa Clara and Oregon State on Saturday.

"It was different this year just trying to find a weekend that worked," Cal head coach Scott Frandsen said. "But we always take the Big Row seriously and that will be one of our focuses of this weekend."

While it's always special for the Bears to row against Stanford, Cal's primary concentration during the entire short spring season is to ramp up for the postseason. After this weekend, the Bears will travel to Seattle for a much-anticipated showdown against Washington, and that will be it for the regular season. The Pac-12 Championships are on May 16, followed by the IRA national championships two weeks after that.

"The great thing about having three races this weekend is that it's a chance to try different lineups, and learn and build toward the Washington dual and really toward the IRA championships," Frandsen said. "That is still the focus. All of these races are great markers and we will go into every one of them trying to win. But IRAs is absolutely the end goal."

The Bears opened the season last Saturday with convincing wins against UC San Diego with their top two varsity eights. Cal will race three varsity eights against Santa Clara and Oregon State and two versus the Cardinal.

"Last weekend was a good first step and a valuable first step in the spring season of racing," Frandsen said. "The spring season is always a learning process and I think last Saturday was a positive first step. This weekend needs to be three positive steps."