Men's Rowing

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Men’s Crew Team Overcomes Obstacles to Drop Times

Posted: May 16, 2011

by Dianna White

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's crew team made it a habit of overcoming obstacles this season. After losing a group of five strong seniors in 2010, the coaches knew it was a transition year. There were not enough guys to fill two large boats, so Bronco head coach Wieslaw Kujda focused on shaping the team, allowing the freshmen to progress so that by February things were starting to come together in the way Kujda had hoped.

Senior captain Wills Fallon stepped up and coordinated travel arrangements to the practice facilities each morning, often driving his own car to Lexington Reservoir. Other seniors helped build confidence for the athletes by acting as leaders for the younger members of the team.

What the group lacked in numbers they made up for in their times. Reflecting back, although the team did not place in the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championship where Kujda had hoped, he was extremely proud of his team being able to remain contenders. "We went faster than last year, but the competition also stepped up," Kujda said. "We continued to improve the entire season, finding a way to overcome all the obstacles and still accomplish something."

At the WIRA Championship in early May, the Broncos placed 11^th overall and third among the West Coast Conference (WCC) boats. They were very close in each race, competing against Sacramento State University, UC Davis and UC San Diego. "There was a 10-second difference between the 1^st and 12^th boat," Kujda said. "It was a very close race- it's getting tighter and tighter in regards to competition."

Kujda said one major accomplishment is that they didn't lose contact with the whole group, still contending for second place with only 500 yards to go in their Varsity eight heat at the WIRA Championships, where last year, the men's crew team was the WCC Champions. They stayed in it, maintaining the progress of the program. "I'm really proud of the guys," Kujda said. "They actually stuck until the end and even when we didn't make the grand finals, they still kept the performance level high, showing the character of the team. You win and you lose, but nobody lost or freaked out, even if we were outnumbered we stuck to the end."

The team has proven that they are capable of producing winning speeds, but the bottom line remains that they must be able to place. The top times every year are getting closer and closer, more and more teams are vying for a top place in a small margin of time. "We have to continue to progress," Kujda said. "We are still working on establishing benchmarks." The times the Bronco team had were enough to be competitive, but not enough to think about winning, so Kujda hopes to try some different things in the future.

"We're going to do weights very consistently," Kujda said. "We're going to do two challenges with the rowing machines in the summer and when they get back in September we are going to do it again. We are going to do some things we have never done before. It's going to be mentally challenging, but physically beneficial for them." Next year Kujda hopes for a bigger group. "They already have this built up, they have what it takes," Kujda said. "They are going to step up even more, they have the spirit of it. The spirit is getting better and better every year."