Denis Poroy/KLC Fotos
Bears' fourth varsity eight captures two race wins in Southern California on day two of the Crew Classic.
MROW3/29/2026 2:03 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Cal Captures Pair Of Event Wins At Crew Classic
Bears’ Fourth Varsity Eight Wins Cal Cup, Open 8+ Races
SAN DIEGO – No. 2 California men's rowing swept both of its finals at the San Diego Crew Classic on Sunday morning, seeing a young crew of Golden Bears dominate both the Men's Collegiate Varsity 8+ Cal Cup and the Men's Open 8+ Anderson Borthwick Memorial Trophy competitions. The Bears' fourth varsity eight competed in both events and put up the best time of the men's collegiate competition.
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In the Cal Cup grand final, the Bears began to separate from the rest of the field quickly from the first lane. Cal owned the first-place position from the start and maintained it down the stretch to have an open-water lead over the other boats. The Blue & Gold glided down the course to cross the finish line first and put up the best men's collegiate time of the race with a 6:20.093. That time nearly matched the Bears' time from the day prior in the preliminary race (6:20.089), which was the best among the collegiate competition.
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In the men's open 8+ event, the Bears once again took the course from lane 1 and pulled out in front from the get-go. With under two hours between the races, the young crew still performed to its high standard, putting up a 6:22.117 and finishing 15 seconds faster than the runner-up.
"This was a great end to spring break," Cal assistant coach
Brandon Shald said. "We had our fourth varsity eight race in two events, and they raced well. The boat improved each time down the course, and it was good experience for it. This was a good stepping stone to reaching our team goals at the end of May." Â
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The Bears will now return to Berkeley to rejoin the rest of the squad, which is preparing for the California Classic at Redwood Shores next weekend, co-hosted by Cal and Stanford.
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Lineup:
4V8+
Coxswain:
Teddy Hibbard
8.
Travis Jorgensen
7.
Alec Wild
6.
William McClean
5.
Peter Spira
4.
Andreas Simoni
3.
Kyle Brown
2.
Thomas Barbey
1.
Antonio Distefano
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For further coverage of Cal men's rowing, follow the Bears on X (@CalMrowing), Instagram (@calmrowing) and Facebook (Cal Crew).
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