A return drive from Northern California after competing in the Head of the American (Sacramento) and Head of the Estuary (Oakland) was anything but ordinary for the Varsity Eight and Lightweight Four of the San Diego State (SDSU) Men’s Crew.
A trip that would normally take about 10 hours turned into a two day ordeal instead. For rowers unaccustomed to dislocations in their travel and training schedule caused by bad weather, the wildfires posed a unique concern. The air quality was so unhealthy as a result of the smoke from the fires that SDSU, along with every other college and university in San Diego, cancelled classes beginning Monday, October 27.
Rowers spent the night at the homes of parents living north of Los Angeles, well away from the blazes further south. News reports and cellular phone calls with family and friends who were evacuated from their homes, along with road closures all over the San Diego Region heightened everyone’s concern.
Upon arriving late morning the next day, SDSU Men’s Club President Matt Pawlak observed, “As bad as it is, this doesn’t happen often and we can be thankful for that!” The last time the San Diego Region experienced large scale wildfires causing widespread evacuation was nearly 30 years ago. The scale of destruction was far greater and with considerably greater loss of life and property this time.
What happens next? Creative Crew indoor training to get ready for the annual Newport Autumn Rowing Festival in Newport, California this Sunday. According to Novice Coach Chris Peters, “We have a lot of lost training time to make up!” This is something that their sometimes snow-bound Eastern rowing brethren and sisters would certainly understand.