The UW Badgers men’s rowing team will be competing in two consecutive events this weekend on a trip to the West Coast. The Badgers have momentum heading into this weekend’s competition after a successful first outing. The Badgers won five of six races last weekend against Oregon State and Michigan.
The men’s varsity team will travel to Seattle for events against the third-ranked Washington team Saturday. Their trip will conclude when the Badgers take on No. 1-ranked Cal and No. 16 Stanford Sunday at Redwood Shores, Calif.
The Badgers, ranked sixth, are in for a challenge against two of the top national programs. Badger head coach Chris Clark expects these two teams to be very tough and that the weekend as a whole will be a real test for his team. The stiff competition should provide a good gauge to see where his rowers are in terms of the elite California competition.
“Cal’s not unbeatable, but I would suspect that they are definitely going to be the best team,” Clark said in a press conference last Monday.
Clark had high praise for Washington’s program strength as well, saying that they are just slightly below Cal in terms of their talent level. His predictions are backed up by the two schools’ current national rankings, and their success can also be seen in the current number of Olympian rowers each school has.
California, in particular, boasts seven Olympic competitors out of their top eight rowers, many of them from other countries where, they are by most accounts, professionals.
Of his own team, Clark also has high expectations but declined to make any solid predictions. However, he did feel that if his team were to come away with three wins overall this weekend it would be very pleasing.
“We have a good group of guys,” commented Clark “I think we will probably finish the season between fifth and tenth ranked.”
The Badgers were also to host a meet here in Madison this weekend against Minnesota. The meet was looked at as an opportunity for some in which some of Wisconsin’s younger, less experienced rowers were to compete. However, Minnesota withdrew from the regatta Wednesday, thus canceling the event.
