Scott Charette leads the Bruins.

Scott Charette was selected in August 2010 to head the UCLA men’s program.  Charette had attended and rowed at Orange Coast College and then Long Beach State, graduating in 1988. Beginning in the fall of 1988 the led the men at Long Beach State with the novice four and eight winning the WIRA and the following year his varsity winning the Cal Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic.  During his time at Long Beach, he had helped to increase the size of the team. The next two seasons [1991 and 1992] he coached the USC novice men, which then cut their men’s varsity-status program.  He took a break from coaching in 1999 for a final push to make the 2000 Olympic team, but a back injury sustained from a car accident and his job as a UPS driver put an end to his quest. He then returned to Long Beach State to coach the novice women.  In the fall of 2000, he began coaching the UC Irvine novice women and in the fall of 2002 added the novice men to his responsibilities until in the fall of 2005 when he became the UC Irvine head men’s coach.  He served eight years at UC Irvine, his last four years as the men’s head coach and rowing coordinator. For the 2009/10 season he coached Loyola Marymount to the ‘next level.’ “LMU Hires Scott Charette as Men’s Rowing Head Coach”, posted online lmulions.com, 2 November 2009. and “Meet Coach Charette” Strokewatch, October 2010, 1.

2011

Coach Charette planned to use the fall as a chance to get back to basics in technique by racing in small boats and emphasized the importance of the size and quality of the novice squad to improve the team’s future performance. Scott Charette, “Coach’s Corner”, Strokewatch, October 2010, 1. Everyone remarked about his desire and enthusiasm. There were four seniors on the team and three had been of the team all four years. The varsity in the fall initially consisted of only seven returning oarsmen.

 The varsity competed in four fall regattas and the novice crews joined in for the last two. In the spring, UCLA’s varsity won its first three dual and three-team regattas, defeating Loyola Marymount, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Orange Coast and the University of San Diego. The novice crews were not successful, and only defeated Loyola Marymount in the novice four during those early regattas.  UCLA made it to the grand final of the Cal Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic and placed sixth. The novice eight placed fifth in their heat and did not advance to the final. The following weekend the Bruin varsity stumbled at the Newport Regatta, finishing fifth, behind winner UC San Diego and three of the crews they had beaten earlier in the season, and the novice eight also placed fifth.  UCLA then defeated UC Santa Barbara again and USC.  The race against USC was the first win of the season for the novice eight.

 Under Charette, the UCLA team resumed attendance at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association [WIRA] Championship. The WIRA became the Bruins primary regional championship with only the varsity eight attending the PAC-10 in 2011 and 2012.  UCLA entered four crews at the 2011 WIRA, finishing second in the pair, third in the varsity eight, fourth in the varsity four and eleventh in the novice eight.  The Bruins did not enter the 2V eight.  Following on their success in the pair, UCLA entered and won that event at the Pacific Coast Regatta the day preceding the PAC-10.  At the PAC-10 the Bruins sole entry was a sixth place finish in the varsity eight, resulting in a last place team placement, behind clubs from Washington State and USC. The Bruins did not attend the ACRA in either 2010 or 2011, but would return in 2012.

2012

Athlete dues were $400 per quarter, $1,200 for the full year, plus a $300 fundraising obligation (erg-a-thon, concert and auto show hours with Staff Pro, student letter writing campaign, or the sale of UCLA Crew apparel).  In February there was still a need to raise $51,350 for the program given the planned budget. The banquet raised over $15,000 and included to introduction of a new racing eight, the “Dr. Norman E. Witt”, christened at the alumni races the following day.  The banquet also included bidding on inscriptions at the nine seats in the new eight. By June 2012 greater income and lower expenses, in part due to deferring the equipment turnover/renewal and greater athlete dues income, resulted in a $43,601 surplus. The surplus was to be spent on 2 RowPerfect ergometers ($6,900), additional replacement/spare boat parts ($3,500), a new Cox Box and parts ($900) and new bow lights ($500). That left $31,801 available for the purchase of a new racing eight-oared shell for the varsity, either a Hudson or a Filippi.

As an improvement over the previous year, the team began with eighteen returning oarsmen and two coxswains.  Time was spent in singles, doubles, pairs and quadruple sculls in the fall, along with three session per week in the weight room compared to two the previous year.  Jon Iwata and Nic Smith, ’11, worked guiding the group of novices.  The varsity was usually able to boat two varsity crews, though occasionally the second crew contained a few novices which was an improvement in team size, in addition to having three eights from the novice squad. 

 During the winter, the varsity squad had struggled with some injuries. At the San Diego Crew Classic, the varsity eight placed twelfth in the Cal Cup and twelfth in the JV eight.  The novice eight earned a fifth place in the grand final. An entry in the men’s open eight did not advance from the heats.  Finally, the varsity squad became healthy “and was picking up speed every time they race[d]. When the boat was not winning races, it was in the thick of the competition.  At the Newport Regatta with ten strokes to go, we gained the lead, only to falter and lose to both” Orange Coast and the University of San Diego but finishing ahead of UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. Scott Charette, “Coach’s Corner”, Strokewatch, September 2012, 2.

 Racing six crews in five events at the WIRA Championship UCLA placed all but one of its entries in the grand finals.  The varsity eight placed fourth in the Club eight.  There was a separate IRA eligible event for men’s varsity eights.  The novice eight placed third, and in the 2ndNovice event UCLA placed second and seventh.  The Bruin entry in the novice four placed tenth overall. In its final year of attendance, until its return in 2017, UCLA entered only its varsity eight and placed fifth at the PAC-12 Championship.  The day before at the Pacific Coast Championship, UCLA placed third in the open eight.  UCLA sent only its varsity eight to the 2012 ACRA, following a two year absence. The Bruin eight finished thirteenth overall, racing in the petite final.

2013

The UCLA and rowing communities mourned the loss of long-time benefactor Julian Wolf ’47, who passed away on March 13, 2013. 

 The goal with F.O.U.R. fund raising was to raise enough revenue annually for operations and capital equipment, allowing the interest in the endowment remain in the fund and grow. While the endowment had grown to over $360,000, there was still heavy reliance on the participants to pay for over 60% of the team’s expenses.  The athletes continued with the same financial burden as the year before. Athlete dues were $400 per quarter, thus $1,200 for the full year, plus a $300 fundraising obligation. Total operating expenses were budgeted to be less than the prior year.  However, the increased team size from two years ago created addition challenges, beyond the rental of four vans to transport athletes to practice at the Marina in the fall, since none of the novice athletes had a vehicle at school.  The spring banquet hosted over 140 alumni, parents, friends and current oarsmen.  In addition to a wine and silent auction there was a live auction including inscriptions on the nine seats in the new eight, the “Richard A. Bacas ‘52”, which was christened the next day at the alumni races. Over $13,000 was raised through the banquet.  In the words of F.O.U.R. president Bob Newman ’68, “the progress of the program over the last few years has been wonderful to watch and exciting to support.” Bob Newman, “FOUR President’s Message”, Strokewatch, March 2013, 1.

The amounts planned for the 2012/13 budget was augmented by the carry-over of $43,601 from the previous budget year and was used in large part by the purchase of a new varsity racing eight.

 Entering the spring season the team consisted of three varsity eights, two novice eights and a novice four.  Jon Iwata continued leading the novice squad and was assisted by Raffi Tchekmedyian ’12, who had completed four years rowing for UCLA and was taking a year before beginning medical school.

 During the previous season UC San Diego, a varsity supported team, was especially strong.  This year, after growing and getting faster, UC Santa Barbara was also very competitive. Coupled with Orange Coast showing speed early in the season and UC Irvine at the end of the season, “UCLA won some and lost some but accounted for themselves quite well against very good competition.” Using the ACRA as one measure, the Bruin varsity eight showed improvement moving up to ninth from thirteenth in 2012. Showing determination, four-year rower Dylan Shafer broke his collar bone in a bike accident in February but trained four hours a day on a stationary bike to be able to come back to earn a seat in the varsity eight for the USC dual and ARCA Championships. Bob Newman, “FOUR President’s Message: 2013, A Look Back”, Strokewatch, June 2013, 1.  

 The first three races of the season were duals.  UCLA swept Loyola Marymount winning the varsity and novice events.  The next weekend UC Santa Barbara hosted the Bruins on a wind shorten course but UCLA prevailed in spite of the conditions. In the next dual the Bruins faced Orange Coast and even though UCLA led through the 1500 meter mark by a few seats, lost narrowly to OCC by a second at the finish.  At the Newport Regatta both the varsity and JV eights finished in third place, and the two novice eights and the varsity four finished farther back in their events.  In the varsity race the finish was UC Santa Barbara, Orange Coast, UCLA only one-tenth of a second ahead of UC Irvine, with the University of San Diego and USC in the rear.

 At the San Diego Crew Classic UCLA placed fifth in the Cal Cup final.  The JV eight finished a close second behind UC San Diego in the petite final and the novice crew was knocked out in the heats and did not advance to the either of the finals. Before the WIRA Championship UCLA successfully defeated UC Irvine in a sweep of all four events in a home dual race.

 UCLA entered a wider variety of events, including small boats at the 2013 WIRA.  Five of the seven entries raced in the grand finals. UCLA earned a third place this year in the Club eight, a fourth in the 2V eight, a ninth in the varsity four and sixth in the pair. In the varsity eight race it was a showdown of four crews that had battled through the season, “depending on the week having a different team as the winner. UCI saved their best performance winning with UCSB finishing a close second,” UCLA third and Orange Coast in fourth. Jim Jorgensen, “Season Recap”, Strokewatch, June 2013, 3. The 2ndNovice eight was the most successful of the novice squad placing third.  The novice eight placed eleventh and the novice four thirteenth. 

 In the last dual race of the its season UCLA hosted USC.  All three UCLA varsity eights bested USC’s varsity.  The UCLA novice four easily won and the USC novice eight defeated two Bruin crews.  In a great end to the season, UCLA attended the ACRA, racing in the pair, varsity eight and the 2V eight. The varsity eight won the petite final placing them ninth overall. The 2V eight earned a bronze medal in the final. The pair placed twelfth.

 Zev Finnley was selected as the UCLA Club Sports Officer of the Year. Coach Scott Charette received the UCLA Club Sports Coach of the Year award.  The men’s team was again named the Club Program of the Year at UCLA.

2014

While athletes were still responsible for $400 dues per quarter and a $300 fund raising responsibility each, it was the intention to make up the F.O.U.R. contribution share strictly from current fund raising and not draw from the endowment. A bequest from Julian Wolf ’47, provided $93,500 and marked an incredible gift to the program.  The endowment grew from $368,330 to $475,268 within twelve months, including alumni donations of over $38,000, student donations of $9,600, no draw from the endowment in 2013/14 and a return of interest drawn in previous years.  There was enough to support the program and purchase another eight-oared shell, “Julian Wolf ‘47”.  The spring banquet raised $22,000 for the program, including the wine and silent auction and the live auction including seat naming rights for the “Julian Wolf ‘47”. 

The fall saw 22 rowers and two coxswains return from the previous year.  Jon Iwata moved up to become the assistant varsity coach after his years as the coach of the novice team. Jeff Vreeland, Cal ’06, with rowing experience at Long Beach Junior Crew and Orange Coast, became the coach of the novice squad following three years coaching the novice men at Long Beach State.  During one of the fall scrimmages one of the novice eights crashed and damaged the bow.  Coach Charette explained that they kept the spring racing boats unused during the fall season and that the varsity, JV and first novice crews all would be racing in shells that were less than 2 ½ years old in the coming spring season. Scott Charette, “Coach’s Corner”, Strokewatch, December 2013, 2.

 Even though UCLA was no longer racing the national-level varsity programs of Cal and Washington, there were still competitive challenges that UCLA faced each weekend from other teams in southern California. In March FOUR president Newman cataloged the challenges related to him by coach Charette of five of those teams.

UC Santa Barbara – well organized, well coached and growing program over a few years with a positive reputation on campus; demonstrated growing success across the board in all categories; “they are the club team to beat.” Their performances in the 1V and 2V at the 2013 ACRA grand finals, a victory at the Crew Classic and sweep of the varsity events at the Newport Regatta led coach Charette to say “UC Santa Barbara is legit.”

UC Irvine – has a new head coach, Pat Gleason who had been the Orange Coast novice coach the year before; UC Irvine brought up two novices to their varsity eight following a three length loss to UCLA to win the WIRA two weeks later; most all of the championship crew would be returning though the program doesn’t have much depth.

Orange Coast – has consistently had strong novice crews; in 2013 their second novice eight won the ACRA with an even faster first novice crew.

UC San Diego – showed early season speed during an early inter-squad practice with both UCLA and UC San Diego winning a few of the pieces.

University of San Diego – were competitive with UC San Diego in the fall scrimmage; though a smaller program could still produce a respectable varsity eight. Bob Newman, “FOUR President’s Message”, Strokewatch, March 2014, 1.

The team had two virtually new Filippi eight-oared shells. The Bruin varsity squad had a few injuries going into the spring season. Spring racing began on March 1 against Loyola Marymount, however the race was moved from Ballona Creek to 1750 meters in the marina due to recent rain making the creek unrowable. UCLA won the varsity and novice eights by open water.  The next weekend the Bruins hosted UC Santa Barbara and while it was a battle during the body of the race, the Gauchos earned a one-half length victory, and their novice crews were also victorious. The dual against Orange Coast yielded a hard-fought victory for the Bruin 2V eight but Orange Coast bested UCLA in the other four races.  The UCLA varsity was flat and finished 12.18 seconds behind OCC.

 Following a week off for final exams the Bruins raced at the Newport Regatta. The varsity placed fifth behind the predicted competitive crews of the University of San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine and Orange Coast.  The Bruins finished ahead of San Diego State and USC. In three of the other four events that UCLA entered resulted in fourth place finishes.  The next weekend UCLA swept USC in a single varsity race, including both UCLA’s 1V and 2V eight, and also the novice race.

 By the San Diego Crew Classic the UCLA varsity had recovered some of its early season speed though a few baubles in the heat caused them to place second to Purdue in the heat of the Cal Cup, but still allowed them to advance to the grand final.  In the final the Bruins earned sixth, behind both the University of San Diego and UC Irvine, though both UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego had raced in the more prestigious Copley Cup. Prior to the WIRA in a dual with UC Irvine both Bruin varsity eights were defeated, though the novice crew defeated the Anteaters.

 Returning to a single men’s varsity eight event at WIRA, UCLA placed second behind UC Santa Barbara in the best placing at the 2014 championship.  The 2V eight placed fourth of four, the pair was thirteenth overall, the novice eight placed sixth and the novice four finished tenth racing in the petite final. UCLA attended the ACRA, racing in the double-scull, varsity four and varsity eight. Finding their way to the petite finals in all three events. The Bruin varsity eight placed second to Virginia, the eventual silver medalist, in their heat but held off UC Irvine by 1.4 seconds.  Advancing to arguably the tougher of the two semifinals, UCLA placed fifth, behind UC Santa Barbara in third but again in front of UC Irvine.  Comparing their time with that of the other semifinal, the Bruin time would have placed them in second place.  UCLA placed eleventh in the varsity eight finishing behind North Carolina and nemesis UC Irvine in the petite final.  The other Bruin crews placed twelfth in the varsity four and thirteenth in the double-scull.

2015

A “500 Club” was established to recognize donations of $500 or more to the endowment.  The endowment grew to surpass $500,000. Increasing $60,000 during the prior 12 months it grew from $498,236 to $558,144. Alumni donations of $34,909 and not drawing the available interest return in either 2013-14 or 2014-15 spurred the increase.  There was $44,653 of current investment funds available for distribution if needed. Athlete dues of $400 per quarter and a $300 fundraising obligation remained, still representing over 62% of the budgeted income supporting the program.  Brian Smith, the Program Director of Competitive Sports acquired several vans for exclusive use by the team to transport novices to and from practice at the Marina, with the team only paying for gas.  Specific funding needs included two or three sets of new oars and paying to transport the athletes to the ACRA Championship.  A “Boat Movers Club” was also established to fund day-to-day maintenance and equipment items with a goal of $16,870. The list consisted of:                                                          
Seat Wheels: $12.50 – goal 40 Cox Box: $509 – goal 1                    
Oars: $480 – goal 24              Seats: $200 – goal 8
Wiring Harness: $285 – goal 1          Shoes: $150 – goal 8 sets      
Microphone: $99 – goal 4 Rigger Backstay: $58 – goal 10       
Speaker: $40 – goal 6             Fin: $20 – goal 2

 Jon Iwata and Rodd Talebi coached the novice crews. “The Novice had a tough season racing against many crews that had their best season in quite some time, the first eight did take shirts home opening weekend and the second eight won our duel with USC. After chasing for another victory all season the novice ended the year hungry for wins.”  During the fall and early spring Coach Charette was optimistic that the team possessed the “maturity and depth to have a very fast varsity eight.” At the San Diego Crew Classic the varsity eight placed sixth of six in the petite final after a fourth place finish in their heat.  The 2V finished last in fifth place in their heat and so did not advance to the finals.  As Coach Charette characterized the varsity that spring, he shared that “the potential for great boat speed that the Varsity showed in fours never materialized in the eight; the eight never managed to come together.  The Varsity eight won our duals with Loyola and USC and the 2nd Varsity eight won our duals with USC and Irvine. … At the Newport Regatta, scheduled for after WIRA, the Bruins struggled in the eight [placing fifth/last in both] but they won both [the varsity and 2V] four events easily, defeating LMU the WIRA silver medalist and 2014 gold medalist.” The team graduated 8 seniors and there were 23 underclassmen ready to engage in the work to make the program successful in the next year.  Scott Charette, “Coach’s Corner”, Strokewatch, Summer 2015, 2.

 The Bruins entered nine crews in eight events at the WIRA, branching into several other categories, placed in the grand finals in four of those. The varsity four placed third, UCLA’s pair was fourth, the double-scull was fifth and the novice lightweight four finished in sixth. Finishing in the petite finals, the novice four won their final, ending in seventh place overall, the novice eight was placed eighth, the varsity eight ninth and the two entries in the 2V eight were eighth and eleventh.  UCLA attended the ACRA but only in the varsity four event (Dominic Pardini/Tim Maytom/Brandon Pang/Kyle Knoll/Mara Behar-cox) and earned a silver medal, behind UC Davis.

 In March 2015 Martha and Barry Berkett ’74, “established the Berkett Men’s Crew Scholarship, an endowed fund to provide financial aid to student athletes participating in Men’s Crew.  The first scholarship fund for Men’s Crew, their gift will continue in perpetuity, and at its outset will award $5,000 a year to cover educational costs.  The first recipient of the Berkett Men’s Crew Scholarship is Kristian Sintered.  Kristian, 22, is a Class of 2016 Economics major from Solana Beach, CA.” “Berkett Scholarship Update”, Strokewatch, November 2015, 4.

2016

FOUR President William Palmer ’85 emphasized that the “program is run by Coach Scott [Charette] and directed and overseen by [UCLA Program Director of Competitive Sports and Martial Arts] Brain [Smith]” with roughly 1300 members that are part of the non-profit organization.  Current fund raising by FOUR continued to be used for operating expenses while the endowment was allowed to continue to grow untouched. 

Sharing rack space with the Marina Aquatic Center junior program allowed for some equipment sharing and gave the Bruins access to eight pairs for fall training.  “Steve’s Dream” and the “Rigger Brown” were scheduled to have several riggers replaced that had cracked and been repaired several times, though fortunately the hulls were in good shape.  The alumni banquet yielded support for a new set of Fat2Skinny oars, increasing the supply to three sets of that type of oars.

 At the UC Challenge Cup on March 5, the UCLA varsity boats were “outgunned” according to Coach Charette, though they were “technically proficient, the Varsity crew just needs more horsepower.”  Scott Charette, “Coach’s Corner”, Strokewatch, Spring 2016, 2. The varsity eight finished fourth, in last place, behind UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine.  The 2V finished third in front of UC Irvine.  The first novice crew finished behind UC San Diego but ahead of UC Santa Barbara. The next weekend UCLA sent only its varsity eight and novice eight to the Newport Regatta.  The Bruin varsity eight finished fifth, behind UC Santa Barbara, Orange Coast, University of San Diego and UC Irvine, but ahead of San Diego State and USC.  The novice eight placed third.  The following weekend UC Santa Barbara swept UCLA in six races on Ballona Creek, including  the first and second varsity UC Santa Barbara eights in front of UCLA’s top varsity. Three additional dual races were scheduled, separated by the San Diego Crew Classic in between, before the WIRA Championship. Orange Coast swept UCLA in four races, though the varsity eight was a victory by only 2.28 seconds.

At the San Diego Crew Classic, the UCLA varsity placed fourth in their heat of the Cal Cup, and  finished thirteen overall with a win in the third level final, UC Santa Barbara again raced in the Copley Cup. UCLA’s novice eight placed third in its heat and second place in the petite final. The Bruin 2V eight placed third in its heat and sixth in the petite final.  Two weeks later UCLA was scheduled to face Loyola Marymount who had placed sixth in the Cal Cup grand final. The last dual was against USC.  UCLA won three of the races and USC won the varsity four.

 UCLA entered four crews at the WIRA.  The 2V eight finished in fifth place and the varsity eight in eighth place.  The novice four and novice eight were both eliminated in the heats.  The Bruins did not attend the ACRA, after attending the previous four championships.

 
In May, the decision was made by UCLA not to renew Coach Scott Charette’s contract. Coach Charette received heartfelt thanks from the entire F.O.U.R. Board and remained a friend to the program.

 On May 10, 2016 the PAC-12 announced the Men’s and Women’s Rowing All-Century Teams.  The listing included three UCLA oarsmen, Kevin Still, UCLA 1980-83; Michael Still, UCLA 1985-87; and Kerry Turner, UCLA 1976-78.  Two UCLA oarswomen, Carol Bower, UCLA 1978-79 and Jan Palchicoff, UCLA (club 1973) 1974-75. The list also included Duvall Hecht, Stanford 1949-52, who had coached the UCLA varsity 1975-79.