On Sunday, April 27 the Trojan Navy raced in the Newport Regatta in Newport Beach. After the races the crew, their parents and alums enjoyed a wonderful brunch as guests of former Trojan oarsman Don Kojima '72 and his wife Sue '74 at their home in Newport Coast. THANK YOU DON & SUE!!!

The varsity crew easily won its heat by five boat-lengths over UCLA, UCSD and UC Irvine with a stroke rate of only 30 in the last 1000
meters. Head Coach Gene Kininmonth said this was the strongest piece of rowing he had seen from his varsity crew all year. "I was encouraged for our chances in the final. The crew really looked like they were in magnificent form," said Coach K.

In the other heat, Orange Coast College battled Long Beach State all the way down the course with both crews proceeding to the final.

In the final, limited hard racing experience really caught up with the Trojans, who apparently did not know where they were on the course in the last 500 meters. Said the stroke apologetically after the race: "I thought we were in the third 500 and suddenly Laura said last 15 strokes."

But the race was a terrific one: Orange Coast and Long Beach blazed everyone off the start and then at the 950m point USC made a powerful move to charge pass Long Beach and draw within a deck of Coast. However, in the last 500m, with the USC crew not sure of the distance left in the race, Coast pulled away and then even Long Beach nipped the Trojans on the line in a tight finish. "Hats off to Coast, they know how to race," said Coach K.

RESULT:
1. Orange Coast  5:51.9
2. Long Beach St  5:53.7
3. USC           5:55.3
4. U. San Diego   6:03.2
5. UCLA          6:03.9
6. UC Irvine     6:11.3

Despite the disappointing result, the crew defintely drew a lesson from the experience: always keep racing to get in front. "And I think next time they will," said Coach K.

The novice crew also raced on Sunday but their struggles this season since losing the programs five best novice oarsmen to the varsity crew continued.

RESULT:
1. Orange Coast   6:01.7
2. UCSD           6:05.0
3. UCLA           6:05.4
4. Loyola         6:09.7
5. UC Irvine      6:14.9
6. USC            6:22.1