The fall semester is under way at San Diego State, and after a whirlwind series of on-campus recruiting events, the Aztec rowers – both veterans and novices – are on the water, on the ergs and in the weight room.
There are currently five eights of oarswomen and oarsmen rowing with the program, with the boathouse door still open to athletes who may have been cut from other SDSU club-sports programs, or make a mid-semester decision to try to make the team.
To kick off the fall racing season, the Aztec rowers – clad mainly in pink to highlight breast-cancer awareness – took to the water on October 3rd for the annual Rowing Cares San Diego regatta. In their first competition, the women’s and men’s Novice 8s raced only the clock, but gained valuable race-day experience (and what are hopefully just the first medals they’ll earn as Aztecs).
The women’s Varsity 8 finished third behind two University of San Diego boats, giving them a performance baseline for the coming season. And the men’s Varsity 8, also rowing only against the clock, had the day’s fastest time over the 3600-meter course.
After the racing concluded, a number of adventurous Aztec parents and friends got their first rowing experience, starting on solid ground on ergometers, followed by a short row on Mission Bay.
Three New Coaches Join the Aztecs
Third-year Head Coach Scott Walsh and the SDSU team members have welcomed three new assistant coaches to the H Del Beekley Rowing Center:
– Catherine Scheffler (Varsity Women): “Cat” was a coxswain at UCSD, where she brought home a bronze medal from the NCAA Championships. She went on to coach the UCSD novice women to WIRA gold, and won a Master’s national championship with the San Diego Rowing Club.
– John Kinnear (Novice Men): John rowed with the “Giant Killers” at Orange Coast College before moving on to UCLA for two more years. He was a medalist at both the WIRA and ACRA championship level. In addition to his on-the-water responsibilities, John coordinates the Aztecs’ strength-training sessions.
– Lauren Benedict (Novice Women): Lauren earned a seat in the University of Virginia”s Varsity 8 for three years, and rowed in the USA’s U23 quad in 2022 and 2023. She also served as an assistant coach and director of operations at George Washington University before moving to San Diego.
Come See SDSU Row This Fall
If you weren’t on hand for the Rowing Cares San Diego regatta, there are four more opportunities to see the Aztecs race this fall:
– The Head of the American, October 24 on Lake Natoma (Sacramento).
– Battleship Row, October 25 in the Main Channel, Port of Los Angeles.
– San Diego Fall Classic,* November 8 on Mission Bay.
– Pancake Regatta, November 14 at the Long Beach Marine Stadium (the rowing venue for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics)..
* There’s more to the Fall Classic weekend than just the Sunday racing! On Saturday, November 7, the annual SDSU Alumni Row will convene at the boathouse at 8:30 AM. And on Sunday, after the Aztecs have finished racing, there will be the christening of two additions to the SDSU fleet: the Bernard Aparicio, named in honor of the former Aztec rower, coach and U.S. National Team member; and the Be The Catalyst, a gift to the team from former SDSU oarsman and novice coach John Denker and his wife Lynn.
Something New in Your Inbox?
In order to help SDSU Crew with their outreach, we’ve shared the Beekley Foundation mailing list with the team; so you should now be receiving the team’s newsletter by email on a regular basis. The team newsletter is one of the many reasons why Aztec Rowing has been designated as a “Tier A” sports club by the university; it’s both informative and visually compelling. We think you’ll enjoy it.
You can also follow the team on Instagram: @aztecrowing
“Aztecs Win the City Championships …”
No – that’s not what you think … at least not yet. It’s the name given to an effort to define, plan and enable steps to improve Aztec Rowing’s competitiveness and sustainability. The thinking behind the title is that being able to compete with the varsity programs at UC San Diego and USD is a good measuring stick for SDSU’s ability to thrive at the WIRA, and, potentially, ACRA levels.
The project began on Sept. 25 with a “no bad ideas” brainstorming session in San Diego, with Coach Walsh and 15 former Aztec rowers and coaches participating, both in person and via Zoom.
The suggestions largely fell into eight categories: recruiting, athlete support, coaching, competition, boats/boathouse, branding, networking and fundraising.
The next step is a working session to further define and refine, prioritize, and assign ownership of the ideas that came out of the brainstorming. That meeting is scheduled – both in person at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center and via Zoom – for Friday, Oct. 9 at 2:00 pm. If you would like to participate, contact Scott or Allan Miller.