RowingRelated

This week's video comes to us from Redwood Shores, California, where the Stanford men's rowing squad has been busy building 'saw wood city' this winter. The video follows head coach Craig Amerkahnian through a training session, and the results are a series of gems—just be sure to credit Craig if you're going to use any of the above. Stanford is coming off an early season romp at the Davis Invitational Regatta in the Port of Sacramento, where they swept all events against UC Davis and Santa Clara. The Cardinal men's varsity eight is certainly not short of power, with Austin Hack back for his senior season, freshman phenom Ryan O'Rourke (who holds the American junior record for 500m at 1:17, and who won the men's junior event at the 2013 Crash-B Sprints with a 6:02.4), and 2013 U23 bronze medalist Kaess Smit , among others. Have a submission for 'Video Of The Week?' Shoot us an email at rowingrelated [at] gmail [dot] com, send us your sugges...

Head coach Craig Amerkhanian addresses his team after the race (Photo: B. Kitch) For the Stanford men's rowing team, it was a (wait for it) 'red letter day' at Redwood Shores last Saturday, as the varsity eight, stroked by former junior world champion Austin Hack , showed tremendous speed against their rival Cal , nearly setting a new course record on the way to victory. The Stanford crew was just 0.7 seconds off the 5:30.5 set by Washington's IRA champion varsity eight last year, and Cal also posted their fastest time in recent memory at Redwood Shores, breaking 5:33 in a losing effort. The Stanford lightweight women's varsity crossing 1250m (Photo: B. Kitch) Earlier in the morning, Al Acosta's Stanford lightweight women's varsity eight took on a heavyweight third varsity eight from Cal, winning convincingly in a time of 6:37.9 to Cal's 6:48.2. The Cardinal have won three straight IRA titles, and are looking to be in contention for yet ano...

The Cal Frosh launch at Redwood Shores (Photo: B. Kitch) The Cal women entered the racing on Saturday for this year's Big Row against Stanford as underdogs, with the Stanford women coming in at No. 2 according to the most recent coaches' poll, and with the Cardinal having won the most recent match-up between the two schools at the Lake Natoma Invite just two weeks earlier in the Varsity and 2V8s. The first NCAA race of the morning was the Varsity 4+, which saw Cal and Stanford locked in a stroke-for-stroke battle throughout the first 500m. The Cal crew (a lineup featuring Jenn Helssen and Charlotte Palmer , who took second in the V4+ at the 2010 NCAA Championships) settled into their mid-race rhythm, making a big push again as they crossed 750m. In so doing, they pulled out to a length lead as they crossed underneath the bridge (just past the 1000m mark) eventually taking the race in a time of 7:29.6 to continue their undefeated season. The Frosh 8s saw Cal continue their...