Regatta News & ReSults

On Sunday, October 6, BIAC members rowed a W2x and a M1x in the Open Water Rowing Center’s Angel Island Fall Classic. The 12.9 km course circled Angel Island with a start/finish at Sausalito Yacht Club. The clear day with minor currents and nearly no wind allowed the rowers to take in big San Francisco Bay views, from Mt. Tam and the Golden Gate Bridge to SF and the Bay Bridge.

After the row, competitors enjoyed lunch and a speech by Meghan Musnicki, 5-time World and 2-time Olympic Champion. She told the story of how she first discovered rowing (she was at her college gym, hoping to talk to the basketball coach about walking onto that team, when a rowing coach pulled her aside). She described how she was cut three times from the National team and then given one last chance, based on a 6K erg test. She also talked about her typical workout day, what it’s like to be sitting in a boat moments before a big race (“I love it! It’s what I worked for!”), and what goes through her head when she does erg work (“you are strong, tough, fit…”).

Thanks to OWRC for a great day and being so welcoming. Thanks also to Meghan for all the great info and stories, and for bringing her Olympic medals for people to hold!

Congratulations to all the BIAC rowers who participated at Head of the Port on October 6 in West Sacramento. Nearly 100º temperatures made for a tough 5k but BIAC showed up with singles, doubles, quads, fours and an 8+ all ready to brave the heat. Several boats had the fastest raw times in their race and the W4+, Mx4x, and a M2x took second in their races. Congratulations to new rower Daniel Friebel who won the novice M1x.

Walking away with another entry on the perpetual trophies, BIAC members Aisha Chow and Greg Klingsporn were the two fastest singles of the day, winning the Women’s and Men’s singles events. A link to full results are here and results for the singles event are here. Some photos of the races are here.

On Sunday, August 4, BIAC participated in the North Tahoe Regatta in Tahoe Vista, CA. BIAC had crews racing in multiple events, including two Women's 4xs, a Mixed 4x, Womens 2x, Boys Jr 2x, Women's 1x, Men's Open Water 2x, and Women's Coastal 2x. This increased level of participation meant we took a trailer for the first time! In total, 22 athletes competed, with 5 BIAC entries on the 7km short-course and 2 entries on the 16km long-course. Despite initial concerns about nearby wildfire smoke (and some surprise thunderstorms the day prior), the morning of the race brought clear skies, mild temperatures, and beautiful flat water on Lake Tahoe. BIAC rowers were rewarded with scenic views, multiple medals, a few course records and generally a fantastic experience! Full results are linked here and some BIAC photos can be found here. Official photos from the event are featured here.

Held June 2 at the Port of Sacramento, River City Rebellion had a new format this year. Traditionally a small boats tournament for singles, doubles and pairs, this year saw the addition of big boats (quads, 4s and 8s), effectively creating a second tournament.

The tourney began by sending small boats, then big boats, down the course for a time trial which determined placement and lane assignments for the next round. In rounds 2 & 3, boats have a traditional 1k sprint, but with handicaps applied at the start. All small boats race against each other, and all big boats against each other, with handicaps taking into consideration boat class, gender and age.

Progressing as a tournament, performance in Round 2 determines placement for Round 3 which determines the overall winners.

BIAC sent several small boats and big boats to compete. The women's 2- of Nadia Cooper and Alyssa Meyer finished 4th in the small boats tournament and the Mixed 4+ of Jesús Serrano Cendejas, Greyson Reilly, Amanda Hawkins, Athena Bradley and cox Ben Garrison finished 2nd in the big boats.

On April 28, BIAC competed at the third annual Boats without Barriers Regatta held at the Jack London Aquatic Center in Oakland. Many BIAC athletes took advantage of pleasant conditions on the 1000m course, participating in a whopping 11 different races: the Mens Masters 1x, 2x, 4+, and 8+, the Mens Open 1x, the Mixed Masters 2x and 8+, the Womens PR2 1x, the Womens Masters 2x, 4x, and 8+. BIAC took gold in the Womens Masters 4x, silver in the Womens PR2 1x and Womens Masters 2x, and many boats had the fastest raw times in their heats. With so many boats on the water, rowers helped each other out throughout the day by carrying boats to facilitate hotseating and assisting with trailer loading and unloading. See photos and results online.

On Sunday, April 21, BIAC rowers traveled to Sausalito for the Open Ocean Regatta, and enjoyed a beautiful day of racing in the waves on the San Francisco Bay. BIAC once again had 5 entries on the shorter Strawberry Course and 4 entries on the roughly 16k Diablo Course, which goes out under the Golden Gate Bridge and back. In total, 20 of our rowers raced, including several first-timers and participants from all of BIAC’s teams, contributing to this year’s record turnout for the regatta. BIAC finished with great results across multiple categories. Full results are linked here, and some photos can be found here.

Now a tradition for the competitive rowers at BIAC, a trailer of boats and crews of men and women headed down to Mission Bay on April 5-7, for the San Diego Crew Classic.

This year, women from the competitive team formed into an age category A boat which competed on Friday, an age category C boat which competed Sunday, and various members of those crews were in a Club Championship event with heats on Saturday and finals on Sunday. All crews performed very well and the Club Championship 'brick and mortar' medal went to the BIAC club boat for the second consecutive year.

The men also competed in the Club Championship event with heats on Saturday and finals on Sunday. They continue to improve each year and had a great race, coming 2nd across the line in their final, though battling a lack of handicap with their young crew.

On March 16th, BIAC kicked off the spring season at the Pacific Invite Regatta at Lake Merced, San Francisco. Athletes of all ages rowed down the 1750 course, from U15 Youths to Masters 8s averaging into the G category. BIAC participated with great success in the Mens Masters 4x and 8+ and the Womens Masters 4x and 8+, pulling the fastest raw times in all heats and earning silver for the Mens Masters 8+ and gold in all other events. Results are linked here.

On December 10, we had 46 shells enter and finish the Corkscrew Regatta with a total of 99 seats. Eight of the shells made the 8.5 mile corkscrew in under an hour. Of the 46 shells, there were 9 shells that were paddlers!! Two of the surfskis made an impressive time of 1hr8min. We think this is the highest number of shells to participate in a Corkscrew Regatta - but not the fastest time (46:27) and not the most number of seats (135 in 2009). Results and photos are posted on the Corkscrew page.

The Corkscrew Regatta is above all a fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley. This year we raised almost $2,000 from entry fees! In addition, two generous donors added another $3,500 in support of the Corkscrew Regatta. Our total contribution was $5,496 to Second Harvest!! Click here to give more.

The BIAC costume contest has no rules and no description and we had a number of really good entries. Some in celebration of the holiday season, others just great costumes. The winner of the 2023 costume contest is the Can’t Touch This (Quad) of M&M’s. The icing on the cake was the Coffee Cake entry into the potluck by Amanda, one of the M&Ms. (Better food yields results!) Runner up was the Norcal 2x bowed by Toby Sin. Other notable costume entries: The Wonder Women of BIAC (with a GREAT time of under 54 minutes), the two Marin 8’s with Candy Cane and Corkscrew Hats and who can forget Steve with the Banana Boat? Banantlers?

This past fall BIAC wrapped up one of its most competitive seasons yet with outstanding performances at the Head of the Charles and Head of the Lagoon Regattas.

For the Head of the Charles, 25 BIAC members made the trek to Boston to represent the club across 8 events. Aisha Chow took 2nd in the Women's Senior Master 1x and Renata Perry finished 3rd in the Veteran I 1x. In the non-collegiate Women's club 4+, the crew of Natàlia Arasa Bonavila, Reilly Hayes, Isabel Joyce, Alyssa Meyer, and Eileen Cheng took 1st. In the Women's Masters 8+, the crew of Mike Dietz, Nadia Cooper, Emily Marcacci, Aimee Wessel, Ariella Webb, Athena Bradley, Jana Comstock, Amanda Hawkins, and Brooke O'Brien took 3rd place. BIAC also raced in the Men's Grand Masters 1x, Men's Veteran I 1x, Men's non-collegiate club 4+, and the Director's Challenge Mixed 8+ events.

At the Head of the Lagoon in Foster City, a full squad of BIAC members competed successfully with 17 entries across 9 events. Notable wins included the Women's Masters 8+, Mixed Masters 2x, Women's Masters 2x, Men's Masters 2x, Women's Masters 4x. Long-time veterans competed alongside a full contingent of novices for a successful wrap to the Fall season.