Crew Team Letters
Message from Coach Gladstone about Fall Training
Dear Friends, Family and Alumni,
Two events of note over the past month that I expect will be of interest
to you. First, the Head of the Charles. For the past few years we have sent
two crews: the frosh in what is designated the Youth 8; and a boat of upper
classmen, entered in what is designated the Championship 8. The frosh raced
brilliantly and won their event. Their closest competitor, Princeton, over-stroked
them throughout the entire three-mile course. They led the Bears at every
mark but the finish line. It appears as though Geoff has put together another
promising class. In the Championship 8 we were all disappointed in our eleventh
place finish. There were no excuses; the result of the race just offers incentive
to work harder and smarter in the weeks and months ahead.
The other event of note was the banquet honoring our 2006 Championship Squad
and the christening of our new racing shell, the "Kirk Smith." This
combined event was a great success. There were over 200 people at the banquet
(the boathouse looked beautiful).We all are enormously grateful to Kirk, his
family and friends for their generous gift to the Crew. Honoring the 2006 Squad
for win ning the Ten Eyck Trophy (team championship) for the first time in
Cal history and honoring the Varsity 8 for winning the Varsity Challenge Cup
was a real pleasure. Having family, alumni and friends present made it a very
poignant gathering.
Formally honoring our Champions regrettably is not something that we have done
well in the past ten years. It would be appropriate and great fun in the not
too distant future to plan an event to do just that. We are open to your ideas.
In closing, thank you for sustaining California Crew and causing it to flourish.
Your gifts do just that. In a very real sense, we are all in this endeavor
together and a very worthy endeavor it is indeed.
All my best,
Steve
PS - Annual Giving is our lifeblood. Please give generously. You can make gifts
payable to UC Regents, designated to Men's Crew Annual Giving, and send to:
Athletic Development Office
University of California
195 Haas Pavilion #4422
Berkeley, CA 94720-4422