Motto "Let there be Lights." Founded 1970 (1970) | Home water Oakland Estuary President Tori Cabot | |
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Location Jack London Aquatic Center, Oakland Estuary, California Coaches Doug Perez (Men), Marjorie Setchko (Women) | ||
California Lightweight Crew is the club rowing team at the University of California, Berkeley. Known as the ‘Cal Lightweights’ or ‘Cal Lights,’ the team is a member of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association. In the western United States, Cal Lightweight Crew is one of three lightweight women's rowing teams and remains the sole lightweight men’s rowing team.
Contents
History
California Lightweight Crew originated as part of the University of California, Berkeley Varsity (Heavyweight) Crew team in 1970. Over the next few years, however, the Cal lightweight rowers distinguished themselves from the Cal heavyweight rowers and opted to form their own sports club, now known as California Lightweight Crew. During this time of transition, the heavyweights shared the Ky Ebright boathouse with the lightweight team.
In 1992, the Cal Lightweights moved to a boathouse on the Briones Reservoir in Orinda, CA. In 1996, the team relocated to the Oakland Strokes' Edward Lickiss boathouse, situated on the Oakland Estuary. The next year, the club expanded to include a women's lightweight squad. In November 2001, California Lightweight Crew moved into the newly completed Jack London Aquatic Center (JLAC), which the team rows out of today.
The men's team departed JLAC in the fall of 2004 and set up shop in Richmond, CA. After storing boats under a tarp for more than one year, it rowed out of the Marin Rowing Association boathouse across the San Francisco Bay in the winter of 2005 before finding a home at San Pablo Reservoir in Orinda, CA the following spring. Having dealt with limited facilities for several seasons, the men's team managed to return to JLAC and the Oakland Estuary in the spring of 2008. In the fall of 2010, all equipment was moved back inside of the JLAC boathouse. In the spring of 2011, JLAC dissolved as a non-profit entity, and the boathouse is now under the ownership and direction of the Parks and Recreation department of the City of Oakland, CA, though that has not affected the operation of the Cal Lightweights on a day-to-day basis.
Recently in the Fall of 2014, the California Lightweight Crew was delegated a permanent team room within the sub-basement of UC Berkeley's Recreational Sports Facility. With construction soon underway, the Cal Lights will have a fully furnished and equipped base of operations by the end of the 2014-2015 academic year.
Men's Racing History & Results
Racing against the since-dissolved lightweight rowing programs at the University of Washington, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara, the team finished with a 6-2 record in its first full season. Since then, the Cal Lightweights have continued to compete in multiple intercollegiate regattas, with the following notable results.
Women's Racing History & Results
Notable alumni
Sam Saylor '05 was a member of the USRowing Senior National Team, finishing fifth in the Lightweight 8+ at the 2006 FISA World Championships, and sixth in the Lightweight 4x at the 2007 FISA World Championships.