SEATTLE – Washington men's and women's rowing teams open the 2018 postseason at Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif., where the Huskies will seek to defend their titles at the Pac-12 Championships this Sunday, May 13.
 
Both the men's and women's teams will race in the varsity four, the novice eight, and the first, second and third varsity eight races. Both teams enter the conference regatta ranked No. 1 in the nation a week after hosting a thrilling Windermere Cup. The UW men beat British collegiate champion Oxford Brookes by a deck-length while two UW women's eights were edged by a Dutch National Team crew that featured six Olympians.
 
Last year, the Huskies won both the men's and women's Pac-12 titles, sweeping the two for the first time since 1997 (during the span between 1997 and 2017, the Husky men won nine Pac-10/12 titles and the women won six, but not in the same year). In 2017, the Husky men won four out of five races (all but the Freshman 8+) while the women won all five.
 
"The Pac-12 Championship is the goal," Husky men's coach Michael Callahan said. "There is always tough competition at Pac-12's and we know we will have to be at our best to win. We continue to work hard, trying to get faster everyday."
 
"Windermere Cup was really an excellent race to prepare us for the side-by-side racing that we've come to expect at the Pac-12 Championships," said UW women's coach Yasmin Farooq. "Since it's one shot down the course that determines the winner, I'm really glad that we got the incredible race with the Dutch in the week leading up to it.
 
"As tough as Pac12's are, the competition is so strong that it truly prepares us for NCAAs," Farooq continued. "I'm really glad we're in this conference."
 
On the women's side, the Pac-12 Conference features three of the top-five, and five of the top-15 schools from the newest CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll (No. 1 UW, No. 2 Cal, No. 5 Stanford, No. 12 USC, and No. 15 Washington State), while the men's championship will feature three of the top ten ranked teams according to the most recent USRowing Coaches Poll (No. 1 UW, No. 2 California, and No. 8 Stanford, as well as No. 17 Oregon State).
 
The Pac-12 Championships will air on the Pac-12 Networks the following Sunday, May 20 at 11:00 a.m. PT. There will be no live video coverage of the championships, so the best way to follow the action "live" is via social media, particularly Twitter (@UW_Rowing), and via this live results link.

PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
(Sunday, May 13; all times PT; all races are grand finals)
9:00 a.m. – Women's Freshman/Novice 8+
9:15 a.m. - Men's Varsity 4+
9:30 a.m. – Women's Third Varsity 8+
9:45 a.m. – Men's Freshman/Novice 8+
10:00 a.m. – Women's Varsity 4+
10:15 a.m. – Men's Third Varsity 8+
10:30 a.m. – Women's Second Varsity 8+
10:45 a.m. – Men's Second Varsity 8+
11:00 a.m. – Women's Varsity 8+
11:15 a.m. – Men's Varsity 8+
 
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS SCORING
Crews are awarded points for where they place in each race (the men's V4+ and the womens' F8+ are not scored and do not factor into the team championship scoring). The team with the most total points is crowed Pac-12 champion. The points system differs for the men and women. Here is the breakdown:
 
WOMEN'S POINT SYSTEM
Place        I Eights    II Eights   Fours        III Eights
1                21             14             7                3.5
2                18             12             6                3
3                15             10             5                2.5
4                12             8               4                2
5                9                6              3                1.5
6                6                4              2                1
7                3                2              1                0.5
 
MEN'S POINT SYSTEM
Place        V8             2nd V8    Frosh or 3V8
1                32             24             16
2                28             21             14
3                24             18             12
4                20             15             10
5                16             12              8
6                12              9               6
7                8                6               4
8                4                3               2
9                0                0               0
 
For the men's scoring, each program receive points based on the better of its two finishes in the freshman and 3V8 races (e.g., if a team finishes first in the 3V8+ and third in the F8+, it gets 16 points, while the team that finishes first in the F8+ in that scenario also receives 16).
 
In both the men's and women's cases, the finish in the varsity eight would be utilized as a tie-breaker. In the case of a tie in the number of total points, the institution with the better finishing boat in the varsity eight race would be awarded the team championship.
 
About Washington Rowing
Rowing at University of Washington was established in 1901 with support from the local business community. In 1903, Washington entered its first intercollegiate race and defeated California, starting their storied "Cal Dual" rivalry. From this beginning, UW crews became the champions in the nation, winning the Gold Medal in the Olympics in 1936 as described in the New York Times bestseller The Boys in the Boat. UW has continued its tradition of winning championships and Olympic medals, and today is one of the best university rowing programs in the world. With its state-of-the-art training facility located on the UW campus right on the shores of Lake Washington, surrounded by mountains and in close proximity to the iconic Montlake Cut, Washington Rowing attracts the best men and women student-athletes from the Pacific Northwest and around the world. More information at GoHuskies.com, WashingtonRowing.com and @UW_Rowing.