For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the women’s rowing team took to the water in Oakland to compete. The Cardinal swept the Golden Bears, starting the 2021 season on a high note on Saturday.

In the main event of the morning, the varsity eight of junior coxswain Nicole Pofcher, junior Kelsey McGinley, sophomore Anabelle Bachmann, senior Kaitlyn Kynast, junior Esther Briz Zamorano, junior Azja Czajkowski, freshman Mathilda Kitzmann, fifth-year Meg Saunders and sophomore Katelin Gildersleeve crossed the finish line in 5:58 to earn a seven-second victory over Cal. 

The second varsity eight then posted a nine-second victory over the Golden Bears, finishing in 6:10 to Cal’s 6:19.

The varsity four of sophomore coxswain Rachel Miller, freshman Kylie Oakes, senior Grace McGinley, sophomore Lucy Black and freshman Taylor English scored the largest margin of victory, finishing 15 seconds ahead of Cal. The Cardinal crossed the line in 6:39.

The third varsity eight also finished 13 seconds ahead of Cal in 6:14, the largest margin of victory among the varsity eight boats.

To conclude the morning, the fourth varsity eight (the Stanford lightweights) finished in 6:26 to best the final two Cal boats by four and eight seconds.

The Cardinal will next travel to Los Angeles to compete against USC on May 1.