Both the men's and women's rowing teams will be looking to defend their titles as the UBC Thunderbirds host the Western Canadian University Championship (WCUC) at Burnaby Lake on Saturday, October 5th.

Last season, the T-Birds varsity men won six of their nine races at the event, while the varsity women won five of their nine. As per usual, the Victoria Vikes will be one of the teams standing in the way of UBC glory, with SFU and UFV also competing.

"We have a lot of new athletes on the team this year and myself, the other coaches, and team leaders have been working hard to integrate them into our program," said Craig Pond, head coach of the Thunderbirds women's team. "I feel very positive about the team as a whole and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can achieve this year."

There are over a dozen races at the WCUC, with start times ranging from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (PT). The races span across many categories including solo, pairs, fours and eights, as well as lightweight events.



It's the beginning of quite a busy stretch for the UBC rowing teams, who will compete at six events over the next five weeks, including two weeks from now at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Massachusetts, and at the Canadian University Rowing Championships back in B.C. at the beginning of November.

As the first big event of the 2024-25 season, this weekend provides a critical learning opportunity for both the athletes and coaches.

"The team has been gelling together nicely since our preseason camp," said T-Birds men's head coach Mike Pearce. "They have some good kms under their belts and are very keen to get on to the race course. The WCUC gives us a chance to test our speed, lineups and the effectiveness of our race planning. We'll take a lot of information out of this weekend to refine things."
 

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UBC enters this year as the top dogs in the region following a fantastic 2023-24 season. In addition to being defending WCUC champs, the men's team are also the reigning national champions with the women coming off a silver medal performance at last year's nationals. Back in April, the T-Birds also earned their first-ever full sweep of the Brown Cup over UVic.

"We know the other programs will be working hard to take us down," added Pearce. "This group likes the challenge and it's going to be another fun season."

The T-Birds attack that challenge on Saturday, with races running throughout the morning and afternoon at Burnaby Lake.