admin

Crew Classic weekend is coming up!

Newsletters Comments Off

Mar 242019

Hello Aztec Rowing Alumni and Friends,

Spring racing is well under way and the next event on the schedule is Crew Classic on April 6-7th!

Crew Classic invokes great memories of racing, being with friends and teammates, and making boats go fast. This year will be no different. The Aztecs will be entering three 8’s: a Varsity 8, Junior Varsity 8, and a Novice 8. The athletes are primed and ready to go to row at the big show.

We would like to enlist your help and support to make this Crew Classic the best one yet. On Friday April 5th, we will be having our annual banquet and auction. This will be a fun night of food, meeting current oarsman, seeing old friends and making new ones. Please RSVP here.

The team leadership and the alumni board are working hard to make this a weekend to remember. Here are some key details about the weekend:

Auction: We will be auctioning off the naming rights to two eights in our fleet. Cement your legacy at your Alma Mater in the best way possible by immortalizing your name in the Aztec Rowing boathouse. We appreciate all of the support from our alumni and want to make auction items worthwhile. For a complete list of auction items, click here (link to list I am putting together
Racing: The reason we are here! Racing begins the morning of Saturday April 6th with each boat having at least one race, with finals Sunday April 7th. The racing schedule can be found on the Crew Classic site and will be updated with final times as the event approaches.
Crew Classic BBQ: Along with the racing on Sunday April 7th, we will also be hosting the famous carne and pollo asada BBQ at the team tent. We’ll be firing the grill up early and plan to start serving food by 11:AM.
Beekley Foundation Meeting: At 1:30PM, the H. Del Beekley Rowing Foundation will convene its annual meeting. Any alumni or supporter is welcome to attend and any member of the H. Del Beekley Rowing Foundation in good standing is eligible to vote on the issues and run for any office.

This will truly be a weekend to remember, see you on April 5th!

Crew Classic & Golf Tournament Recap

Newsletters Comments Off

Feb 022019

Thank you to all who attended and supported the golf tournament on February 9th at the iconic Balboa Park Golf Course. We had 28 players from a variety of eras participate, including 9 former team captains! The team of Geoff Canfield (97-00), Jake Wittler (99-02), and Matt Pawlak (01-04) won the scramble, while Mike Buckel (11-14) won both the longest drive and closest to the pin competitions.

Crew Classic 2019

Crew Classic is April 6-7 this year and is rapidly approaching, with exciting racing to watch and fun events to attend all throughout the weekend. The team will be hosting the annual Crew Classic Banquet dinner Friday, April 5 starting at 5pm at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center on campus. Event details and registration are at the following link: https://www.evite.com/event/02F6A5V2UHUVEMP26EPJHETLQVUUHA/rsvpAfter watching the weekend racing, stop by the SDSU tent at the racecourse Sunday for our traditional BBQ featuring some delicious carne asada followed by the annual meeting of the Foundation.

Boat Fund Update

We appreciate everyone that has already donated to help support the team and build towards the future, and are in the final 250m sprint for the boat fund as we hope to bring a new racing shell into the boathouse within the next few months. We’ve already raised over $20,000 towards our goal, so please take the opportunity to make a donation today to help us close the gap on our last $11,000!

Aztecs Spring Race Schedule

February 16th – Parker Cup – Newport Beach
March 3rd – Gruenberg Cup – Port of LA (USC boathouse)
March 16th – Newport Regatta – Newport
April 6th & 7th – San Diego Crew Classic – Mission Bay
- Purchase tickets in advance here
April 27th-28th – WIRA – Sacramento

Future Beekley Foundation Events

April 5 2019 – Crew Classic Banquet
April 6-7 2019 – San Diego Crew Classic / Annual Meeting
May 4 2019 (Tentative) – Spring Alumni Row

This year’s golf tournament is on Feb. 9th – Sign up today!

Newsletters Comments Off

Jan 112019

We’re just short of one month from this years H. Del Beekley Rowing Foundation Golf Tournament and it’s time to get your registration booked for the event! This year’s event will be held on Saturday, February 9th at the historic Balboa Park Golf Course in San Diego. Tournament participants will play 18 holes in a Scramble format, and will play alongside current rowers, coxswains and coaches throughout the course.
Golfers can participate for as little as $85/person (in a foursome) and sponsorships start at $89 to sponsor an athlete or coach for the event. For full details, please visit our EventBrite registration page and claim your spot for this years event!

All net proceeds from the event will go directly to the H. Del Beekley Rowing Foundations (http://beekleyrowing.org) Boat Fund which has a current goal to put a new 8 man racing shell in the SDSU boathouse during the 2019 season.
Online registration closes on Sunday, January 27th at midnight! For more information or questions about any form of sponsorship, contact us at info@beekleyrowing.org

2018 tournament winners – Bill Lawson, Kurt Bausback, and Mary & Allan Miller

Fall Recap and Golf Tournament

Newsletters Comments Off

Dec 152018

This Fall the team welcomed 25 new novice rowers and coxswains bringing the team total to 50, with 25 athletes on varsity. They had 3 races (Head of the American, San Diego Fall Classic, and Head of the Harbor) and are looking forward to the spring racing season. You can read a recap of the fall season here.

The alumni and current rowers “sewing” up the boats for a group picture at the alumni row this past October

Thank you to all who attended the fall alumni row and homecoming tailgate on October 20th. 18 alumni took to the waters of Mission Bay to practice alongside the current team. Later in the day, over 50 alumni, family, and friends gathered in the SDCCU Stadium parking lot to share stories and catch up with old teammates over a delicious barbecue dinner and libations.

Annual Golf Tournament 2019

We will be hosting our 2nd annual golf tournament this year on February 9th, 2019 at the iconic Balboa Park Golf Course (2600 Golf Course Dr, San Diego, CA 92102). The Tournament participants will play 18 holes in a Scramble format, and will be greeted by current rowers, coxswains and coaches at various holes.

Golfers can participate for as little as $85/person (in a foursome) and sponsorships start at $150. If you can’t make it this year please consider sponsoring a rower. We are also selling packages that allow you to play with current team members to fill out your foursome.

Full details and registration for the event can be found here. (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/h-del-beekley-rowing-foundation-golf-tournament-2019-registration-53376455415)

Boat Fund Update

First and foremost we would like to thank the 40 donors and former Aztec Oarsmen and supporters that have come together this year to raise over $20,000 for the team and foundation. We are happy to announce that we are well on our way to meeting our commitment to purchase the team a boat in 2019. Please take your last opportunity of the 2018 tax year to make a donation today to help us close the gap on our last $11,000!

Aztecs Spring Race Schedule

February 23th – Parker Cup – Newport Beach
March 2rd – Gruenberg Cup – Port of LA (USC boathouse)
March 10th – Newport Regatta – Newport
April 6th & 7th – San Diego Crew Classic – Mission Bay
April 27th-28th – WIRA – Sacramento

Future Beekley Foundation Events

February 9th, 2019 – Golf Tournament
April 6-7 2019 – San Diego Crew Classic
- The team will be racing all throughout the weekend
- We’ll be hosting our traditional Sunday BBQ and Annual meeting of the Foundation.
- For the first time in several years, we’ll be fielding a boat or two of Aztec Alumni

New Season, New Recruits

Newsletters Comments Off

Sep 092018

This years’ returning Aztecs started a little early with a revised training plan that has resulted in each of them having pulled almost 100k meters already! Combine that with the squad of about 30 novices that are finishing up their second week with the team, and you can’t help but take notice that this year is starting off strong. The team was even lucky enough to have Aztec alumni and Olympian Garrett Klugh join one of their erg sessions to share his insights and get them charged up for a new year!

Boat Fund Update

With the Fall season here, it’s time to redouble our effort toward the 10th Anniversary boat fund. The Foundation has raised more than ½ of the $35,000 needed to update the boathouse with a newer racing shell by Crew Classic. Replacing equipment is an ongoing challenge, and keeping the boathouse fresh with new and gently used equipment ensures the current and future success of the team. You can make donations to the boat fund at any time on the Donate section of our website. As is customary, the largest donor or group of donors will have first naming rights.

Special thanks to donors Kris Corley, Ed Baldry, Chris Anderson, Dustin Hinds, Joseph Dodson, and James Osborn for the contributions to the boat fund over the summer!

RSVP Today! – Alumni Row and Homecoming Tailgate

On October 20th, the team would like to invite our alumni oarsmen and coxswains to join the current aztecs in a mixed row (which is certain to end in a little racing) at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center Boathouse. Those interested in rowing should reach out to Bernard at info@beekleyrowing.org to reserve a spot. We’ll be meeting at 6:00 AM and plan to be off the water by 8:30 AM to give you plenty of time to rest up and join us at this season’s Homecoming Game for the SDSU Men’s Crew Alumni Tailgate!.

Is the thought of getting back into a racing shell not quite your speed these days? No problem! We’ll be grilling hot dogs, burgers, and some smoked meats before the Aztec football team takes on San Jose State at this year’s Homecoming Game. Plan to head on down to the stadium and join us as early as 3:30 PM in section H3. We’re asking for $5 per person to help offset the cost of the food, water, soda, and utensils. Please let us know if you plan on attending – and/or would like to provide something – so that we can ensure we have enough to go around. Because current team members are invited, we will not be providing alcohol. But if you so choose you can bring your own adult beverages (and remember that the stadium doesn’t allow glass containers). This will be a great opportunity to meet the current team and swap war stories with other alumni.

Please send your RSVP or any questions about either event to info@beekleyrowing.org by Friday October 12.

Aztecs Fall Race Schedule

10/27 – Head of the American, Lake Natoma, Sacramento, CA
11/11- Fall Classic, Mission Bay, San Diego, CA
11/24 – Newport Chase, Newport Beach, CA (select crews)
11/25 – Head of the Harbor, Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (select crews)

Future Beekley Foundation Events

Early February 2019 – Beekley Rowing Foundation Golf Tournament
- Last year’s event was a bunch of fun and we’re looking to improve upon it this year. We’ll be working to finalize a location and exact date in the coming couple of months, but wanted to get this in people’s minds now!
April 6-7 2019 – San Diego Crew Classic
- The team will be racing all throughout the weekend
- We’ll be hosting our usual Sunday BBQ and Annual meeting of the Board for the Foundation.
- For the first time in several years, we’ll be fielding a boat or two of Aztec Alumni

Hello and happy summer!

Newsletters Comments Off

Jun 212018

Aztecs in their final at ACRA’s in Georgia

Aztecs Represent SDSU In Georgia

The Aztecs travelled to Georgia for the ACRA championships May 26-27 with the Varsity 8 and the Novice 8. The Varsity 8 finished with a time of 6:00.7 and the Novice 8 finishing with a time of 6:23.4 in their time trials. The highlight of the weekend was the photo finish in the Varsity 8s final. With 100m to go, the Aztecs made a move and took second place, .1 seconds off Georgia and .05 seconds ahead of Ohio State. With an exciting finish to the year, the varsity team looks to continue to take steps forward and build up the program with a very strong and hungry novice class coming up through the ranks. Read the end of year summary here . Additionally, the team recently held elections to elect team officers for the 2018-2019 season. We are pleased to announce Jack Neuhaus, Logan Gonsalves, Tristan Whitaker, and Bret Birney are the new team officers. We look forward to working with them all next season.

Join us at the Padres game, it will be a hit!

How would you like to spend a San Diego summer night catching a game at Petco Park? Last summer we organized the first Padres night and it was a big success! You will have the opportunity to socialize with both alumni and current team members, and hopefully watch the Padres get a W. The game is on July 14th at 7:10pm vs. the Chicago Cubs. Tickets are $29.50 each. We’ll meet for pre-game food and drinks across the street at Basic Pizza starting at 5:00pm. RSVP by July 7th by emailing info@beekleyrowing.org.

New Boat Fund Push

Now that the offseason has hit, there is more time to focus on the 10th Anniversary boat fund. The Foundation has raised more than ⅓ of the $35,000 needed to update the boathouse with an updated rowing shell. Replacing equipment is an ongoing ordeal, and keeping the boathouse fresh with new and gently used equipment ensures the current and future success of the team. You can make donations to the boat fund at any time on the Donate section of our website.

Alumni Row and Tailgate Coming back this Fall

Pencil Saturday October 20th into your calendars! That is the date of the SDSU homecoming football game. Last year’s homecoming game day activities included an alumni row in the morning, followed by a tailgate and watching the Aztecs at SDCCU Stadium. This event was a big success and we anticipate another great alumni row and tailgate this year.

We hope to see you at the Padres game

Go Aztecs!

10th Anniversary Boat Fund – We’re Making Progress!

General Announcements Comments Off

Jun 142018

Since the announcement of the 10th Anniversary Boat Fund, the Foundation has raised over one third of the $35 thousand dollars we will need to outfit the team with an updated 8 man rowing shell. As the team continues to build and grow in size, carrying 5+ eights of athletes through the Fall and 4+ eights through the early spring races, we are finding that we not only need to have the right number of boats, but that we need to have updated equipment across the varied weight categories to remain competitive.

Working with the coaches and boat vendors, we’ve determined that the team needs to purchase a one to two year-old upper-mid weight shell rated for crews with a boat average of up to 190 lbs. Thanks to boats purchased through the foundation 5 years ago, the team currently has decent coverage in the heavy and the lightweight ranges. But the lack of depth in the mid-weight range had the Novice crew – who placed 4th overall at Crew Classic this year – racing through the spring in a 15 year-old boat.

The technology behind rowing shells have come a LONG way since my day, an older boat can now maintain its rigidity longer and can still be a great fall season training boat. However, just like a car, rowing shells tend to require significantly more maintenance as they age to keep them running well enough to train in, let alone to be competitive in the spring races.

The foundation needs your help to purchase a top tier racing shell, which will allow the team to cycle one of the older boats out of their spring racing fleet. Please consider heading over to our Donate page to make your tax deductible donation today.

Donate Online

Regardless of your ability to donate at this time, we also need all of your help to get the message out. So, we’re asking you to please help us by reaching out to any of the people you rowed with to ~~harass~~ encourage them to donate as well. Anything you can do will help make this goal a reality.

The team is ready for WIRA’s, are you ready for an Alumni Row!

Newsletters Comments Off

Apr 252018

We were happy to see so many of you at Crew Classic this year! We were also excited to have both the Varsity 8 and Novice 8 racing in finals on Sunday. The Varsity 8 pretty handily took out Long Beach in their heat, and secured a 6th place finish in the Petite Final on Sunday. The Novice 8 took 2nd in their heat – behind only Cal – which landed them in the Grand Finals on Sunday, where they narrowly missed the podium by finishing 4th overall. In addition to the boats making the Sunday finals, the team was also able to field a 2nd Varsity 8 that raced on Saturday to round out their showing at the event. With two 8’s of athletes on Varsity, and almost a full second eight of novices, the team is continuing to use their numbers to drive inter-squad competition as they prepare for WIRAs.

As the Sunday Finals drew to a close, we once again fired up a 6-foot grill to cook and serve over 60 pounds of Carne and Pollo Asada for our annual team, alumni, and family BBQ. As with all of our previous years of hosting the event, the team was very grateful to meet and greet the alumni in attendance, and nobody walked away hungry!
After all of the BBQ had been cooked, all of the Alumni in attendance gathered at the tent to kick off the 10th Anniversary Annual Meeting of the H. Del Beekley Rowing Foundation. This year we highlighted the successful events of the past year, then took a stroll down memory lane to remember some of the major successes we’ve had over our first decade. While an official copy of the meeting minutes will be available on the Beekley Rowing website, we wanted to introduce you to your new Board of Directors for the coming year.

President → Andy Olson. Andy originally started the foundation 10 years ago, re-joined the board as President last year, and has happily accepted the job for another year.
Vice President → Bernard Aparicio. Bernard accepted the VP role after serving the board last year in one of our At Large positions where he proved to be a very passionate and valuable asset.
Secretary → Brandt Watson. Brandt also spent last year serving the Board in an At Large position where his efforts promoting the team and events on Social Media made him an obvious choice to fill the role of Secretary.
Treasurer → Steve Lewis. Steve returns for his third year as Treasurer and remains as passionate as ever about supporting the goals of the alumni and the board.
At-Large → Matt Stewart. Matt participated in several events and helped the Board prepare the Boat Fund and Membership mailer this year and is looking forward to officially serving in the coming year.
At-Large → Haakon Christoffer Jonsmyr. Chris is finishing up his final year as team Commodore and will be transitioning to an At Large role to continue helping the team in the coming year.

A special thanks to Dan Smith who stepped down this year after serving as the Foundation’s secretary for the last 9 years. He is by far the longest serving officer the Board has seen and has certainly been the glue that has connected the Board through the years.

The newly elected Board will be continuing last year’s focus of reconnecting the alumni and the team through communication and events. Additionally, the Board is dedicated to do the work necessary to raise the funds needed to put an updated 8-man racing shell in the boathouse during the upcoming season. Many alumni have already generously contributed, so we’re off to a great start in building the fund. At this point, we are working with the team and coaches to find the desired boat and get a final price so that we can accomplish this goal.

If you missed Crew Classic and are looking for the next alumni event, you’re in luck. Have you been itching to get back in a racing shell on beautiful Mission Bay? Well here’s your chance! On Saturday May 5th at 7:30 am, come down and relive the glory days as you join with fellow alumni to give the current Aztec oarsmen a run for their money. We are looking to put together several eights with former rowers and coxswains from every era. A $20 buy-in gets you a seat, first come, first served (fitness not required). If you would like to participate, contact us (info@beekleyrowing.org) or a member of the board and we will reserve your seat. After the rowing, the team will be celebrating the end of their year “Cinco de Mayo” style with a taco cart run by the family of a fallow alumni. Any participants or spectators interested in sticking around for the food are being asked to contribute $10 to offset the cost. So come down and show your support for SDSU Men’s Crew as the athletes prepare for ACRAs (American Collegiate Rowing Association Championships in Gainesville, GA).

Please contact us if you have any questions!
Go Aztecs!

2018 Crew Classic Info

Uncategorized Comments Off

Mar 222018

Hello to all Aztec rowing supporters!

Once again, it’s time for another Crew Classic! This year, the team will be entering 4 events: The varsity will compete in the American Specialty Health Cup against teams up and down the west coast, and as far away as North Carolina. The JV team will compete against crews across the country in the 2V Sharp Memorial Cup, and the novices will be racing in the Derek Guelker Memorial Cup and also the Novice B finals. Keep an eye on http://www.crewclassic.org for the full racing schedule.

In addition to the exciting racing, there are lots of events to be part of!

First, on Friday night, join the team for a pasta dinner at the Alumni Center on campus. This is a recent tradition started by some passionate alumni a few years back. This year, the team expects over 60 non-rowers at this event, and has space for some more alumni who are interested in attending. For more information, see the evite page!

Saturday is a great time to catch up with other alumni, and watch some racing at the Crew Classic! The final schedule has just been published ( http://online.regattamaster.com/Pages/Races.aspx?regattaID=1306 ), and the Varsity (8:16AM), JV (10:08AM), and Novice A (11:12AM) all compete in their first heats on Saturday morning with the majority of the finals happening the next day.

Sunday is the busiest day! Come to the race course early and watch some of the best crews in the country race in their respective finals. Hopefully there will be several Aztec boats racing for tanks! The famous Crew Classic BBQ (featuring carne/pollo asada burritos) will be served starting around 10:45am (to well past noon).

At 1PM, the H. Del Beekley Rowing Foundation will convene it’s 10th annual meeting. The agenda for the meeting is here: http://beekleyrowing.org/annual-meeting/ Any member of the H. Del Beekley Rowing Foundation in good standing is eligible to vote on the issues and run for any office. This year, we anticipate having to fill one open spot on the board. You can nominate yourself at the meeting or let us know if you are interested ahead of time.

Thanks to everyone who has already paid their membership dues and helped us raise funds for a new shell! If you are unable to join the meeting in person, you are allowed to assign a proxy to vote for you, or can register your vote on the new bylaw changes or officers by contacting us at info@beekleyrowing.org.

We look forward to seeing everyone at Crew Classic!

Golf Tournament Registration Open

Uncategorized Comments Off

Jan 122018

The H. Del Beekley Rowing Foundation cordially invites you to participate in our 2nd Golf Tournament Fundraiser on Saturday, February 10th at the highly rated Admiral Baker Golf Course in San Diego. The Tournament participants will play 18 holes in a Texas Scramble format, and will be greeted by current rowers, coxswains and coaches at various holes.

Golfers can participate for as little as $80/person (in a foursome) and sponsorships start at $150. For full details (and to register), please visit the event page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/h-del-beekley-rowing-foundation-golf-tournament-2018-tickets-41822943550

For more information, contact us at info@beekleyrowing.org

Online registration closes on Jan 18, 2018

Older Entries Newer Entries