Today was the first day of the San Diego Crew Classic, and the Cougs placed fifth overall in all three races they competed in. All the crews — the first varsity eight (1V8+), first varsity four (1V4+) and second varsity eight (2V8+) — all placed equal to or higher than they did last year with today’s performances but had slower overall times.
Let us break down how they performed in each race…
First Varsity Eight:
The 1V8+ crew, comprised of Emery Town, Freddy Todhunter, Lis Ana Johansen, Elsie Talbot, Lucy Munro, Jaeve Proberts, Harriet Thompson, Sam Eden and coxswain Vera Lichvarcik, finished with a final time of 7:02.682.
Their final time landed them a third-place finish in their heat and fifth overall across both heats, which was good enough to land them a spot in the grand final tomorrow.
The Cougs started the race keeping pace with UCLA for second place, but eventually fell behind. The University of Texas, ranked No. 2 in the nation, also raced in the heat and took an early lead that they never gave up.
By the 1,000-meter marker, the halfway point in the race, Texas was way ahead of the competition, followed by UCLA and WSU. At that point UCLA started creating separation between itself and WSU.
As the race progressed, UCLA’s lead grew, and the University of San Diego tried to catch up to WSU. There was a point where USD’s bow was level with WSU’s stern. However, the three teams never changed positions.
Similar to last year, WSU placed fifth overall in the heat race in the 1V8+ at the Crew Classic. The difference is that last season, they posted a 6:30.227.
In the other heat, No. 4 University of Washington and No. 10 University of California-Berkeley dominated, both recording times under 6:40.
Final Results (across both heats): 1. Texas (6:31.325), 2. Washington (6:35.639), 3. UC-Berkeley (6:36.847), 4. UCLA (6:56.004), 5. WSU (7:02.682), 6. USD (7:06.259), 7. Sacramento State (7:07.645), 8. University of Wisconsin B (7:11.876), 9. UC-San Diego (7:17.992), 10. University of Wisconsin (7:24.824)
First Varsity Four:
Throughout the week, there was uncertainty for the Cougars as to who would be racing in this event. However, they eventually decided on Wendy Kissinger, Daniella Vicente, Anna Otto, George Hughes and cox Phoebe Nagy.
The 1V4+ was a prelim race this year, meaning that the boats were fighting it out for lane position for tomorrow’s final. All teams competed at the same time.
The race was dominated by Texas and Washington, who went back and forth for first place. After an early Washington lead, Texas came back and eventually won the race.
As for WSU, they took an early fifth-place start that they would eventually finish with. They were never particularly close to UCLA, the team that finished fourth. UCSD gave the Cougs a bit of a run, though. The Tritons only finished five seconds after WSU.
Compared to last year’s 1V4+ prelim results, the Cougs placed better this year by one spot. Yet, they also finished roughly 40 seconds slower. WSU’s 1V4+ crew finished with a final time of 7:40.826 last year compared to 8:20.275 earlier today.
Final Results: 1. Texas (7:40.687), 2. Washington (7:46.393), 3. UC-Berkeley (7:52.019), 4. UCLA (7:58.294), 5. WSU (8:20.275), 6. UCSD (8:25.722), 7. Sacramento St. (8:31.940), 8. USD (8:35.053)
Second Varsity Eight:
The Coug’s 2V8+ crew, consisting of Kati Chow, Ava Jared, Elle Donohue, Adela Mrakova, Phoebe Dedlow, Makayla Tuley, Megan van Leeuwen, Isabelle Delavoye and cox Eesha Raj, posted a 7:28.903.
Similar to the Cougs’ 1V8+ today, the 2V8+ started the race in third in their heat and eventually finished that way. Due to the second heat results, their overall placement was still fifth.
Texas blew out UCLA and the Cougs, finishing 20 seconds before either. The Cougs hung on to UCLA for a while, at times only trailing by a couple of seats. However, UCLA eventually sprang free and finished 10 seconds ahead of WSU.
In the second heat, Washington and UC-Berkeley dominated, finishing within four seconds of each other, but over 30 seconds before any other team.
Last year in the 2V8+ heat race at the Crew Classic, the Cougs finished eighth overall out of ten teams. But they also finished with a final time of 7:00.739, which was over 28 seconds faster than today.
Final Results (across both heats): 1. Texas (6:57.305), 2. Washington (7:00.571), 3. UC-Berkeley (7:04.622), 4. UCLA (7:18.742), 5. WSU (7:28.903), 6. USD (7:37.674), 7. Sacramento St. (7:39.736), 8. UCSD (7:50.370)
The Cougs will race tomorrow in the grand final for each event. The 1V8+ final is at 9:23 a.m., the 1V4+ at 10:07 a.m. and the 2V8+ at 10:15 a.m. The races can be watched on the official 2026 San Diego Crew Classic website.
