SEATTLE – Washington Rowing split eight races against California today on the Montlake Cut at the 106th Annual Cal Dual, winning in the women's varsity four, men's third varsity eight and both the men's and the women's second varsity eights, under varying racing conditions.

On the women's side, the No. 1-ranked Washington women's crew won two out of four races on the day against No. 2-ranked California. In the main event, the women's varsity eight saw Washington take the lead the first 500 meters of the race. However California took the lead at the 1000 meter mark and continued to advance on their lead, finishing with a time of 6:30.708, over seven seconds ahead of the Washington crew.

"It was a brawl. We went in certainly respecting that it was going to be a battle right out of the blocks," said women's head coach Yasmin Farooq. "It certainly delivered in that regard."

The Washington women started the day off strong, winning the women's varsity four race with open water. Later in the morning, the women added another victory in the women's second varsity eight.

"To be able to have races like these at this point in the season is a gift," added Farooq. "It gives you a good sense of where your strengths and weaknesses are. I'm really appreciative of that today."

The Washington men, who are currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, battled the defending national champion California crew in a tight race, ultimately falling to Cal by just under two seconds. Despite Washington maintaining a fast pace throughout the race, it was not enough to beat the California crew.

"It was a great boat race from both crews," said men's head coach Michael Callahan. "We knew that these were some of the most highly trained, hard working student athletes and rowers in the world. I think we had a really good race."

"Sometimes when you have hard conditions, you really find out who the best crew is because they are able to handle it," added Callahan. "[Cal] was able to gain the lead like we expected and they were able to capitalize on it."

The men's second varsity eight held the fastest time of the day, finishing in 5:40.581 over California's 5:42.573. Washington also claimed a victory in the third varsity eight race.

Men's varsity eight
As the Men's Varsity eight prepared to race, a strong head wind developed affecting course conditions. By 500, Cal was in the lead with a time of 1:31.2, UW closely followed with a time of 1:33.6. Cal continued four seats ahead of UW and by 1000 meters Cal was ahead by 1.6 seconds. By 1500 meters Cal was up by exactly 2 seconds. Cal finished five seats ahead with a time of 6:10.674; UW finished with a time of 6:12.594.

Women's varsity eight
By 500 meters, UW's women's varsity eight was up by 1.2 seconds. However by 1000 Cal had taken the lead and by the 1500 meter mark Cal was ahead by 4.3 seconds. Cal finished in first place with a time of 6:30.708; UW finished with a time of 6:38.336.

Men's second varsity eight
Cal was up by three tenths of second by 500 meters; by 1000, UW had taken the lead by less then a second. The race continued with just seconds between UW and Cal. However UW finished six seats ahead of Cal with a time of 5: 40.581.

"We knew that they would start fast, so if we could hold them at the start, which I think we managed to do, we could claw our way back into it" said Sebastian Devereux, sixth seat of the Washington men's second varsity eight. "We had that confidence that we could just walk through them and then maintain the lead, I'm proud of the guys for managing to execute what we talked about."

Women's second varsity eight
UW's women's second varsity eight excelled into the lead. UW continued in first place, seconds ahead of Cal. UW finished exactly eight seconds ahead of Cal with a time of 6:17.297.

"We knew Cal was very fast," said women's second varsity coxswain Isabella Corriere. "We knew we needed to be focused on attacking the base and being strong in the middle and being really direct in the tailwind. I think we had a nice start and stayed very internal and just pushed on in the middle."

Women's Varsity Four
The day commenced with UW women finishing ahead of Cal with a couple of boat lengths of open water. UW blasted off the starting line with blazing speed and never looked back. They maintained the lead throughout the race and finished with a time of 7:16.818, seven seconds ahead of California.

Men's freshman eight
Cal and UW battled closely up until 1500 meters with just a second between them. However Cal advanced, finishing with a time of 5:52.451, leaving UW to finish with a time of 5: 57.591.

Men's third/fourth varsity eight
Cal led up until 1500, however, UW's third and fourth varsity eight followed closely allowing them to finish the race in first and second place. UW's third varsity eight finished first with a time of 5:46.398 and UW's fourth varsity eight finished second with a time of 5:46.726.

Women's Third Varsity/Freshman Eight
In the women's varsity eight/freshman eight, Cal advanced quickly, maintaining the lead throughout the race. UW's third varsity finished with a time of 6:44.964 and the UW Freshman eight finished with a time of 6:54.036.

Up next
Washington women's rowing will head east this Saturday, April, 29 to face Washington State in the Apple Cup of rowing. In two weeks, Washington will host the Windermere Cup/Opening Day Regatta on May 6th on the Montlake Cut. The UW men and women will be competing against crews from Shanghai, China.