Pretty much every rowing college had a make-or-break weekend this past May 11-13 with crews lining up for ten different regional championships. Twitter has become a lifeline for college rowing coaches and fans – with teams, regatta organizers, and row2k tweeting results in practically real-time, there’s no need to wait until Monday morning to see how your cross-country competition did. We chipped in our own two cents on racing via @PocockRacing, our twitter handle. Watch for our hash tag #WhiteBoatsWinning attached to tweets about Pocock customers who are winning big races.

While the WCC and Pac-12 were a sea of white boats (as usual) it’s hard to argue that Pocock is west coast-only boat builder after looking at the weekend results. Sure there aren’t as many Pococks on the water as Vespoli’s, but of all the Pocock racing shells on the water, a higher percentage of them win than any other brand boat. Bottom line: Fast teams choose Pocock.

Here’s a quick recap of how crews racing in Pocock racing shells ended up:

Big East

First year coach Justin Moore and Syracuse had a huge day at Mercer – In addition to winning the V4, they were second in the V8 and JV8. University of Louisville was third in both the V8 and JV8, and Notre Dame took home the silver in a the V4.

Big Ten

Wisconsin women took home hardware in every race – winning the 2Fr8, second in the Fr8 and V4, and third in the V8 and JV8. Go Badgers!

Conference USA

If there was any doubt that Leeanne Crain was doing impressive things at the very young University of Oklahoma program, this weekend’s Conference USA Championships put that to rest. The Frosh 8 won, V8 was second, and 2V8 and V4 were both third. Congrats also to Texas, taking second in the V4.

Dad Vail

The Varsity 4+ is always one of the most competitive races at the Dad Vail, and this year was no exception with 10 Women’s V4 heats and over 40 crews. Tremendous congrats to Drake University, Old Dominion, and Duke for winning gold, silver, and bronze. (Fordham was fourth in the event, too.) It was great to see the K4 go one-two-three-four at the Dad Vail! The University of Chicago also won the Lightweight Men’s 4+. The K4 has always been a popular collegiate boat at the IRA/NCAA level, and it’s great to see it showing up on more and more championship medals docks.

Long time customer and perennial Dad Vail powerhouse St. Joe’s took the bronze in the JV8; and Central Oklahoma came in third in the DIIV8 – fast enough to warrant an at-large NCAA bid.

EARC Men’s Sprints

In a sea of yellow, the Wisco men put on an impressive show, winning the JV8, and coming in third in the V8. Coach Clark always does an impressive job with his largely walk-on squad, and it’ll be fun to see them on the Cooper River for IRA’s. Dartmouth came in second in the Light 8, and the Cornell frosh were third.

Pac-12

The Cal Golden Bears put on an impressive show at the Pac-12, sweeping the women’s events convincingly. The UCLA women also continued their stellar season, nabbing second in the Fr8, and 3rd in the 2V8 and V4. (Their V8 was just out of the medals in fourth.) WSU and OSU were both third in the Fr8, women’s and men’s, respectively.

All six of the Varsity 4+ medals went to crews in a K4 – Cal, Washington, and UCLA in the women’s race, and Washington, Cal, and OSU on the men’s side.

West Coast Championships

Gonzaga continued their strong season winning the 2V8 and V4, and second in the V8 (the only three events at the race). LMU was third in the 2V8, and St. Mary’s an impressive third in the V8.

All in all, a great weekend for our customers. A huge congrats, and thanks for racing in our boats! See everyone in Jersey for NCAA’s and IRA’s!