11/10/24 - College Cup 2024

The 2024 College Cup race held at Lake Merced in San Francisco, CA, marks the first race of our season! This race is highly anticipated each Veterans Day weekend as it is the only race held annually exclusively for collegiate teams to compete for the title of the fastest College Team for Mixed, Open, and Women's 500m divisions. Having won the championship title last year, we went into the race with high hopes and prospects to defend our victory.

UCSD entered two crews into the Mixed Division, and one each for the Open and Women's divisions. As expected, all of our crews entered into the finals for their respective divisions! Our women and Open crews stayed consistent with last year's placements, placing 3rd and 4th respectively in their divisions. Our succession of these placements reflects our strong commitment to building on last year's achievements; reaching the final championships for the gender divisions is no longer an obstacle but an expectation for our team. Our Mixed B boat faced tough competition in the B division, narrowly missing placement and finishing in 5th place. Despite our placement, our Mixed B boat was the second-fastest Mixed B boat amongst all the participating teams; an astonishing feat considering a majority of the paddlers on that boat had just begun their Dragon Boat journey in the last 4 weeks! Our Mixed A boat fought hard to defend our title, and in one of the tightest races of the day, we sadly missed out on 1st place by 1.91 seconds. Although we could not keep the championship, we placed 3rd overall in the Mixed A division, an accomplishment that seemed impossible for us until our most recent comebacks. 

Overall, this race was an incredible experience for our team, bringing us closer together in spirit and heart. We once again extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to our dedicated alumni for their unwavering support, especially since this race was made possible due to the volunteers of many collegiate alumni to run the race. This race has set the standard for the rest of our season, fueling our determination for our next race in Spring at the Arizona Dragon Boat Festival!