CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – The Cal men's rowing team kicked off the fall campaign in impressive fashion, competing at the prestigious Head of the Charles in Boston and finishing as the fastest collegiate crew in both of its races.

After finishing second in the championship eight each of the last two years, the Golden Bears broke through this season to finish first and set a course record in the process. Cal finished in a time of 13:27.7, topping the mark of 13:58.9 set by the United States' men's eight in 1997 by over 31 seconds. This is Cal's first win at the Head of the Charles in the championship eight, showing some great racing in Sunday's three-mile race on the Charles River.

It was also a successful outing for the Bears' four, which was the top collegiate finisher in the championship four. Cal finished second overall, trailing only a crew of USRowing Training Center athletes, which included Cal alums Jordan Vanderstoep '16 and  Julian Venonsky '16.

Brett Cataldo, Alex Wallis, Marcin Pawlowski, George Finlayson and James Riley raced for the Bears in the four, while John Amorosana, Joachim Sutton, Maarten Hurkmans, Jack Gosden-Kaye, Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk, Ferdinand Querfeld, Rudolph Querfeld, Martin Mackovic, and Christoph Seifriedsberger competed in the eight.

"Both boats raced really well this past weekend and were able to come away with two wins which is exciting," said associate head coach Scott Frandsen. "Breaking the course record was a nice added bonus given how long that record had stood!  It shows that the program is in a good spot for this time of year and will hopefully add some momentum and eagerness to the next few months of training.  Winning a prestigious event like the Head of the Charles is great but we will stay focused on the training and building up towards the spring racing season."

The Bears will be back on the water this weekend, racing on both coasts. A freshman eight will get valuable experience competing in New Jersey at the Princeton Chase on Sunday, October 29, while the remainder of the team will head to the familiar shores of Lake Natoma for the Head of the American on Saturday, October 28.
 
For results and more information on the Bears throughout the season, follow the team on Twitter (@CalMRowing), Instagram (@CalMRowing), and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalMRowing).