Mission Bay Weather Just Right for Huskies : Washington Wins Its Third Straight Copley Cup at San Diego Crew Classic

Saturday was cold, blustery and overcast, and there was a nagging wind in East Mission Bay that made it especially tough for the crews competing in the San Diego Crew Classic.

It was Huskie weather.

As if the powerful University of Washington crew really needed assistance, Mission Bay reminded them of Lake Washington in Seattle.

“Actually, this was warm for us,” Huskie Coach Dick Erickson said. “We’re used to practicing and competing in wind and rain and in challenging waters. Our athletes are amused by this.”

They were even more amused when they called home and found out that Saturday was warm and sunny in Seattle. After all, isn’t San Diego supposed to have America’s finest weather?

But the Huskies’ opponents weren’t too amused when Washington won the featured Copley Cup again.

This year, the Huskies got off to a quick start and held off challenges from Navy and Cal. The Huskies’ time of 4:04:11 was the best of the day by almost six seconds. It was also 2.22 seconds better than that of second-place Navy. Cal finished third.

It was the third straight Copley Cup win for Washington, and their seventh since the Crew Classic began in 1973.

“We settled back and rowed strong and long throughout the race,” sophomore Dan Doyle said. “We got the lead in the first 27 strokes, and we stayed aggressive. Rough water is our type of water.”

The Green Lake Rowing Club from Seattle also felt right at home in the choppy water. They cruised to a 10-second win in the Women’s Junior 8.

While the Washington-based crews may have been pleased with the weather, the unpleasant conditions did hold down attendance. A crowd of more than 20,000 was expected, but only 5,000 showed up.

But Saturday wasn’t exactly a sunbather’s paradise or the annual spring carnival San Diegans have come to expect.

One lady joked that maybe it was so cold because the races were moved east . . . to East Mission Bay from West Mission Bay.

Because of a Wednesday sewage spill that polluted Sail Bay, the Crew Classic had to be switched to a shorter course at East Mission Bay, near the Hilton Hotel.

The way the day turned out, its strong winds would have caused even more starting problems if the race had been held in Sail Bay.

Longtime crew veteran Duke Robinson said that East Mission Bay offered somewhat more protection from the elements for the crews. But it was still strange seeing thousands of fans wearing sweatshirts and covering themselves with blankets along Mission Bay.

Because of the venue change, the races were shortened to 1,500 meters instead of the customary 2,000 meters.

Though the weather, site and distance were different, the dominant school on Saturday was once again the hearty lot from the Northwest.

“It’s not a real big thing for us, but we prefer a longer race because we think endurance is one of our main assets,” Erickson said. “And this year’s crew rows even better than last year’s.”

Washington is beginning to take all the suspense out of the Crew Classic, or at least all the suspense.

How have the Huskies become the king of the waters?

“We’ve got to where we are because we have a lot of people competing for seats in our boats,” Erickson said. “Our program has a lot of depth.”

That depth came to the forefront on Saturday when Washington’s men’s and women’s junior varsity teams both rowed to easy victories.

It also helps that the Huskies have boathouses located right near campus, and that crew is supported by the community.

“Of course there is football and basketball,” Erickson said, “but in the spring, people want to know how the Washington crew is doing.”

Word out of San Diego is that it is doing just fine.

Crew Classic Notes

In an upset, the University of Victoria defeated Washington by a boat length in the Whittier Cup for women’s varsity eights. Washington, the four-time defending national champion, had won the previous two Whittier Cup races and hadn’t lost since Victoria beat them in the 1982 Whittier cup race. Wisconsin finished third, Cal was fourth, Stanford fifth and UCLA was sixth. . . . For the second year in a row, Yale nipped San Diego State to win the Men’s lightweight 8. This year, Yale won by .86 seconds. SDSU just beat out Harvard, which finished third. . . . The Great American Cal Cup race was delayed because UC Irvine had damaged its boat. When the race finally got going, the Anteaters led from wire-to-wire to win by more than four seconds over the University of San Diego. UC San Diego was third. . . . In a race that featured numerous former Olympians, The Dirty Dozen won the Men’s Open 8. The Dirty Dozen, based in the Bay Area, had the second best time of the day at 4:10. . . . In the Women’s Novice 8 Final, Cal finished first, San Diego State second and UCLA third. Cal State Long Beach defeated Loyola Marymount by 13 seconds to win the Women’s Varsity 8 Final. In the Women’s Lightweight 8 Final, Radcliffe defeated UC San Diego by more than 13 seconds. . . . Orange Coast College finished second to Cal in the Men’s Freshman 8, fourth in the Men’s junior varsity 8--which was won by Washington, and fourth in the Women’s Novice 8. The Long Beach Rowing Assn. won the Women’s Lightweight 4 by more than eight seconds over the Lake Merritt Rowing Club. In the Men’s Lightweight 4 race, the Long Beach Rowing Assn. finished second, four seconds behind Harvard.