SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The UBC Thunderbirds Men's Rowing team proudly represented the pinnacle of Canadian university rowing this weekend, testing their speed against the Intercollegiate Rowing Association's elite at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship in Rancho Cordova, Sacramento.

Facing down three of the top ranked programs in collegiate rowing—the University of Washington, UC Berkeley, and Stanford— the T-Birds delivered gritty, resilient performances across the board while making history as the first ever program in any sport to enter MPSF from outside the United States.

Because seeding was determined by prior spring racing results, and UBC had not yet faced West Coast opposition over 2000m this season, all three Thunderbird crews were assigned to Lane 6. This put the T-Birds on the least-favoured side of the course, forced to battle a blustery, unrelenting head crosswind alongside world-class competition.

Despite the environmental disadvantage, all three UBC boats executed strong race plans to capture fourth-place finishes, holding their own against the front-runners and out-pacing regional rivals.

Race Highlights

• UBC 3V: The 3V crew exploded off the line with an exceptional start, crossing the 1000m mark slightly ahead of Stanford. They fought fiercely down the stretch to finish in 6:10.7—just 4.5 seconds behind Stanford, while cleanly defeating UC San Diego and Oregon State. (Event winner: Cal)
• UBC 2V: Mirroring the 3V's aggressive strategy, the 2V boat put together a massive first 1000m, establishing a powerful rhythm early in the race to secure their position ahead of the chasing pack. (Event winner: UW)
• UBC 1V: Overcoming a difficult start, the 1V crew showed great poise and stuck to their technical plan, systematically grinding their way back through UC San Diego and Oregon State over the second half of the course. (Event winner: UW)

"It was an outstanding experience for our program to race some of the best collegiate teams in the world," said UBC Men's Head Coach Mike Pearce. "Our goal is to build a UBC program that ranks among the top 12 in the world, and that is only possible by exposing ourselves to a very high standard of competition. We certainly found that here. I am proud of how our team responded, and it will undoubtedly benefit our program as we make progress toward that goal."



RESULTS HERE