Bad Navigation by Navy Gives UCLA Victory

Before the Copley Cup varsity eight final Saturday in the 15th San Diego Lowenbrau Crew Classic, Rick Clothier, the Naval Academy coach, said his team had no goal except “racing good.” He probably should have added a second goal: steering good.

Just 10 yards from the finish line, the Navy boat, which was in first place, crossed into second-place UCLA’s lane, and the two boats locked oars. Tightly anchored to each other, the crews stopped rowing and the boats drifted across the finish line--Navy first, UCLA second.

Navy was immediately disqualified by referee Julian Wolf, and UCLA was declared the winner for the first time in the Crew Classic’s history.

“As long as we win,” said Jay Tint, the jubilant UCLA senior coxswain. “It feels great.”

As an estimated 30,000 spectators saw the University of Washington win its second consecutive Whittier Cup--the women’s equivalent to the Copley Cup--and fifth in the past eight years.

UC Davis won its first men’s California Cup, which is awarded to the winner of a varsity eight race featuring California colleges and universities. UC Santa Barbara won its second consecutive women’s California Cup, finishing just ahead of runner-up San Diego State.

But the big loser was Navy, which battled Washington much of the way before UCLA closed in toward the end of the 2,000-meter course.

“Navy had steered a very bad course throughout the entire race,” Wolf said. “They were warned by us twice (for lane violations) before they got near the finish. When they approached the finish, they again started encroaching on UCLA’s water. I warned them for a third time, and they continued to violate UCLA’s water and finally locked oars.”

Wolf disqualified Navy without even consulting other officials.

“I didn’t have to confer,” he said. “It was such a flagrant violation. It’s unfortunate because Navy has a good crew. Navy was disappointed, but they accepted it.”

Well, almost.

“Even though we locked oars and stopped, we were ahead of UCLA and stayed ahead,” said Mike Wallis, Navy coxswain. “Maybe we shouldn’t have been the winner, but we should have (been awarded) second place.”

Wallis had no explanation for the difficulty Navy had in steering a straight course.

“We had come over into their lane during the last 10 or 15 strokes during our sprint,” he said. “Our boat just veered over. I don’t know if there was a crosswind or what. I was doing everything I could. I had the rudder pulled all the way over to turn back to our starboard side. I was crossing my fingers that we would cross the line before we hit them.”

They didn’t. One member of Navy’s crew got his oar tangled with the oar of UCLA’s Greg Webster, who, as he pulled, had his oar come up and hit him in the temple. Webster was a little sore but not seriously hurt.

“I heard Jay (Tint) yell a couple of times for Navy to get back over,” Webster said. “And then, I don’t know what happened with my oar. I guess it got caught under one of their blades.”

The Washington women won easily, defeating second-place Wisconsin by a full seven seconds (7:02.38-7:09.58). It was the Huskies’ first major victory under first-year coach Jan Harville, but you never would have known it when they crossed the line. Unlike other winners, the Washington crew showed little emotion.

“Washington is not big into celebrating,” said Sarah Watson, one of the Washington rowers. “I think it’s inconsiderate to the crews around you.”

But UC Davis celebrated plenty when it won the California Cup. The Davis boat was clocked in 6:31.42. USC (6:34.33) finished second for the second consecutive year. The University of San Diego (6:46.17) was fifth.

In one of the most exciting races of the day, UCSB (7:38.90) came from behind to defeat SDSU (7:43.30) in the women’s California Cup.

USD (8:00.91) finished sixth in the women’s California Cup final.