Coach Simon Hoadley and work to revitalize ‘Our Aging Fleet’ of shells and focus on budget.

FOUR President Palmer described the applicants for the UCLA coaching position. “You would have smiled, just as I did, at some of the 40+ applications that we received from around the world. One from the Ukraine. Another from an individual who explained that while she had never rowed or coached, her experience with relationships and as a life coach would translate into top level coaching experience. Or, the individual who told us that he had never rowed or coached, but had driven shells over 2400 miles on a trailer.”  In the end Simon Hoadley, an experienced rowing coach from New Zealand was selected.  His previous coaching experience included “both the University of Waikato and University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Both of these programs grew and developed under his leadership into National Champions, and were also involved in successful international racing. Coach Hoadley developed and coached many rowers to the international level across several different countries, and has previous U.S. coaching experience at the University of San Diego and the Seattle Rowing Center.” William W. Palmer, “FOUR President’s Message”, Strokewatch, Fall 2016, 1, 3.

Coach Hoadley shared his initial outlook, “It really is a privilege to be your new Head Coach, and I am excited by what we can achieve together. If there are two key things I want to start to work on, the first is continuing to build a strong and meaningful connection to the history and tradition of the club. I have spoken to the FOUR Board and the current athletes about creating a stronger sense of identity at the boathouse, in particular by turning the coaching office into a Trophy Room where we can display some of the photos and cups we have accumulated over the decades. I also hope that by creating a dedicated space we can encourage some Alumni to dust off some old boxes, and send in some lost treasures with seldom told stories.

“Secondly, I want to build on the great work of the previous coaches, and continue to drive UCLA slowly and steadily into the upper echelons of Collegiate Rowing. We all know that Cal and Washington are some of the fastest in the world, and that winning a Pac12 championships is on par with being ranked #1 globally, and we need to continue to aspire to closing the gap. Those programs have been building to their current standards over the last 50+ years, and so our plan must also be long term and patient in focus. I see a key part of my role as being a custodian that gets us ever closer to that lofty and difficult goal, and will strive to make UCLA as competitive as possible each season. A key change here needs to be a consistent and meaningful presence at the Pac 12 Championships and the National Championships.”

Coach Hoadley had specific suggestions about renewing the boathouse culture including the collection and display of trophies, pictures and other memorabilia. He had thoughts about the letterman board, “remember when you saw your name go up on the Letterman Board? … This was last updated in the mid 1980s, and I would like to reignite this honors system and fill in the missing years as best we can. Given our program is no longer Varsity, I would suggest we look at a new criteria that reflects a similar level of achievement and includes all the worthy Club athletes of the last 30 years.” Simon Hoadley, “A Vision for the Future: How You Can Help Renew Our Boathouse Culture”, Strokewatch, Fall 2016, 7.

However, those would need to be preceded with the change in coaching staff and updating the fleet of racing shells. Coach Hoadley in short order hired two assistant coaches: Brendan McEwan and Jacob Rosen Ph.D. Assistant coach Brendan McEwan had rowed as a lightweight at Georgetown University. In 2010 he represented the US in the single at the Under-23 World Rowing Championships.  More recently in 2015, he had won the club single at the Head of the Charles Regatta. Jacob Rosen had been a member of the Israeli National Rowing team from 1981 to 1992. He was a professor of medical robotics at UCLA and director of the Bionics Lab in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

 On his first day, Hoadley inventoried the equipment and provided a detailed written analysis entitled ‘Our Aging Fleet.’ “For now, though those goals will just have to taunt and tantalize us, as our primary goal is rebuilding and establishing the platform that can make us faster. We have some clear obstacles to work through in providing resource and effort that match our loftier goals. One resourcing area where we have made some good changes is coaching, and I am very happy and inspired with the team of coaches who have risen to the challenge and joined my team, I look forward to them all arriving in town and getting to work.

“Our next resourcing challenge is to revamp the fleet, and create a long term and strategic plan that means in any year where our athletes put the work in and have the capability to go fast, they know they have equipment that won't hold them back.

“Finally, a comment on the athletes. They have blown me away with their desire to compete and achieve, and have been an inspiration to me. All the UCLA community should be proud that such a group has assembled on campus and is committed to carrying the UCLA Rowing banner high."

Simon Hoadley, “Coach’s Corner - An Introduction From Head Coach Simon Hoadley”, Strokewatch, Fall 2016, 2.

2017

The season was termed a historic year for the team. The team earned the Henry T. Nichols Cup at the UC Challenge, the 2017 WIRA team Points Trophy and the PAC-12 Club Points Trophy.  This was the team’s first appearance at the PAC-12 championships since 2012. 

At the UC Challenge the varsity placed third (behind UC San Diego and UC Davis, but ahead of UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara) while both the second varsity and novice eights won their events.  UCLA finished in first and second ahead of Loyola Marymount’s crew in a varsity four race.  In the dual against Orange Coast, UCLA earned second place, except won the 2V eight.  UCLA swept the University of Colorado in the varsity and novice eight events during their dual.  At the San Diego Crew Classic, UCLA’s three eights all finished in the petite finals.  The varsity and JV eights in sixth and the novice eight fourth.  In a dual with UC Santa Barbara the Gauchos won the varsity and JV eights, and UCLA won the novice eight.  USC also raced UCLA and UC Santa Barbara that day.  The men’s varsity double was declared the race for the Hillen Cup as the only varsity level race between the schools, UCLA finished in first and second with USC’s entry following.  USC also lost to UCLA in both the novice four and the novice eight.

 At the WIRA Championship the Bruins entered nine of the eleven men’s events, all except the lightweight eight and lightweight four.  UCLA won the double scull, were fourth in both the varsity four and novice lightweight four, placed fifth in the 2V eight, novice eight, second novice eight and pair, and earned seventh place in the varsity eight and novice four.  UCLA won the Overall Team Champion trophy for the first time in program history.

 Racing at the PAC-12 Championship, UCLA’s men’s team earned fifth overall, but ahead of the other men’s club teams of Colorado, Oregon and Washington State. Entering five events the highest the Bruins placed was fourth in the freshman/novice eight, and fourth out four in the varsity four.  The other crews earned sixth in the varsity eight, fifth in the 2V eight and sixth of six in the 3V eight.

 UCLA found the competition challenging at the 2017 ACRA Championship.  After placing 34th of 38 in the varsity eight time trial, the Bruins ended placing 19th with a finish in the third level finals.  Both the novice eight and 2V eight placed in the B-level finals, with overall placings of ninth and eleventh. As a men’s team the Bruins placed sixteenth in points.

 Coach Hoadley released a comparison of the program budget of the previous five years compared to the 2010 budget of the club rowing team at the University of Michigan and his proposal for an ideal budget for the UCLA men’s program and calling for greatly increased funding. Simon Hadley, “Coach’s Corner – An Update on the Yearly Budget”, Strokewatch, Winter 2016, 2-3.

Athletes were required to pay $2,000 per academic year to row representing approximately half of the per-oarsman operating expenses with the balance made up with contributions from donors.  FOUR asked alumni to sponsor an oarsman for a year with a donation of $1,500. Pledges and donations for 2016-17, through May 1, totaled $313,184.06. The FOUR banquet generated roughly $40,000 in a single night and the team earned $15,000 from its Spark fundraising campaign.  The Board reworked its Articles and Bylaws creating more seats, and held meetings each month. William Palmer, “FOUR President’s Message”, Strokewatch, Spring 2017, 3.

 The 2016-17 Berkett Scholarship recipient was team president and coxswain Madalyn Avjean. Kathryn and Terry (’70) Oftedal established the Terry Oftedal Endowed Men’s Centennial Scholarship to support a student’s educational costs to begin in Fall 2017.  Mary Jo and Bob (’68) Newman made a gift of $100,000 to Men’s Crew to provide essential resources to strengthen the coaching staff.

2018

The team competed in a number of varied locations this year.  Beginning with the Head of the Charles in Boston and ending in China, with trips to Seattle and Tempe in addition to the normal venues of San Diego, Sacramento, Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles, Newport Beach and the home waters of Ballona Creek.  For the first time since finishing 25th in the Collegiate Eight in 2004, UCLA raced in the Head of the Charles Regatta this time in the Collegiate Four and placed 19th of 41 entrants. The entire team completed successfully in four other fall regattas from October through December.

 The Bruins opened their 2018 spring season with a January 7 victory in the varsity eight over Long Beach State (Major Seibert Cup) raced over a 4070 meter distance. A month later on February 10 UCLA swept Loyola Marymount racing two varsity fours, both ahead of Loyola’s four, and a novice eight, winning the Guy Lundberg Memorial Cup. A UCLA four raced in Tempe, Arizona and defeated an Arizona State club-level crew. UCLA raced in four of the five men’s events at the UC Challenge and medaled in three of them, including a first in the novice eight and third in the 2V eight. The varsity eight placed fourth behind UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego and UC Irvine, but finished ahead of UC Davis.  The next weekend the Bruins returned to Newport for the 53rd Newport Regatta. UCLA won the open four race, and placed second in the novice four, but finished third in both the varsity and 2V eight events. The Bruin varsity finished behind Orange Coast and UC Irvine but defeated UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State. The varsity four finished in sixth place. 

 At the San Diego Crew Classic several weeks later, the varsity eight finished fourth, in last place, in a heat of the American Specialty Health [Cal] Cup and tenth overall racing in the petite final. The novice eight placed second in their heat and third in the final. The Monday following the Crew Classic Cal’s lightweights lost to a UCLA crew by 8 seconds in a dual race on Ballona Creek.

 UCLA’s men hosted a UCLA Classic on March 31.  The crews entered in the feature varsity eight event consisted of crews from Orange Coast (2 crews), UC Irvine, Colorado (2 crews), Oregon, a composite Loyola/Colorado/Oregon crew and host UCLA (3 crews). Orange Coast was the champion, UC Irvine second, with UCLA varsity crews in third and fourth.  In the novice final, UCLA finished in third place. In a final dual of the season, for the Bob Hillen Cup, UCLA swept USC in the varsity eight and varsity four events.

 UCLA finished well at the WIRA Championships, successfully defending the Overall Team Champion trophy they had won in 2017.  The highlights included championships in the pair and novice lightweight four. There were four other medalist performances.  UCLA placed second in the double-scull, second of two in the lightweight eight, and third in the novice eight and 2V eight. Of the remaining four UCLA crews the novice four finished fifth, both the varsity eight and the varsity four were seventh each winning the event’s petite final, and the 2V eight and lightweight four each finished tenth overall. Between the WIRA and the PAC-12 UCLA’s varsity eight earned a fourth place finish in the Cascade Cup at the Windermere Cup Regatta in Seattle, finishing behind Washington’s 2V, British Columbia’s 2V and UC Santa Barbara’s varsity. Racing in all five of the men’s events offered at the PAC-12 Championships, UCLA earned fifth place overall and was the top club-level team. The highest placing crew was the novice eight that earned third place.  The varsity eight placed fifth, the 2V eight was sixth, the 3V eight finished in fifth and the varsity four finished sixth of the six entrants.

 “We were excited to race our Varsity Lightweight Eight three times over the season. They won at the San Diego Fall Classic, they beat the California Lightweights in a dual in March, and then won the silver medal at WIRA. All these results led to us being ranked #14 in the country. We made a point of looking for some Walk On Lightweights on campus too and we were very excited to win the Novice Lightweight Four at WIRA. The first time that UCLA has ever won that event.” “Year End Letter from Coach Simon”, Strokewatch, Summer 2018, 2.

 The ACRA Championship was using an eight lane format, so the B-level finals included places nine through sixteen.  Except for the 2ndNovice eight’s fifth place finish, and the other five Bruin entries finished in the B-finals.  The varsity eight placed fourteenth both in the time trial and overall in the finals.  The varsity four finished thirteenth, the novice eight tenth, the double-scull twelfth, and the pair won the B-final earning it ninth place overall. In men’s team points UCLA placed seventeenth this year.       

 The varsity eight (consisting of Adela Armstrong Spielberg, Mark Replogle, Julio Alvarado, Jeremy Onofrei, Zach Alter, Dashen Wada, Jon Yen, Dominic Pardini, and John Kinnear) participated in an eleven-day cultural exchange to China during the last week of June and first week of July that included races in Tianjin and Hangzhou as part of the Quanjian World Famous University Water Sports Series. They raced against the strongest university crews from across China, as well as teams from prestigious universities from around the world. The Bruins won their heat against Tianjin Sports University, Tianjin Normal University, and a mixed boat of Peking University and Harvard University rowers.  Zach Alter, “Men’s Rowing – Across the Pacific” uclaclubsports.com, posted 27 June 2018.  They finished fourth in the grand final at Tianjin. They traveled to Hangzhou looking to improve upon their previous performance. There the progression to the final from the heats was based on the four fastest times. In their heat the Bruins finished second, a length behind Brown University, and hoped their performance was fast enough to get them into the grand final. However, amid some controversy over times, UCLA was placed in the B-final while the crews from Brown, Southern Denmark University, Nereus (a composite of university students from Amsterdam, including the University of Amsterdam), and Peking University were sent through to grand finals.  UCLA won the B-final, placing fifth overall, by finishing several lengths ahead of HEC Paris and Zhejiang University.  Their time was only eclipsed by the grand final champion crew from Southern Denmark. Zach Alter,“China World Championships”, uclaclubsports.com, posted 5 July 2018. Other universities cited as participating were Sydney University and Otago University, who were respective reigning national champions from Australia and New Zealand, the University of London and Oxford University.

 Based on support from the alumni Coach Hoadley was able to add usable equipment and to grow the roster of the program up to 51 who raced the championship regattas. Of the current roster only six were graduating, leaving the team well positioned to additionally grow the roster next season.  During the 2017/18 fiscal year $275,865.32 was raised, representing 122% of the annual goal. Through December 13, 2017, $90,522.17, representing 45.26% of a goal of $200,000 {$150,000 current operations, $50,000 equipment}had been raised. Two Filippe eights were offered for naming rights prior to the banquet at $15,000 each, instead of the full cost for each at over $35,000, going to Terry Oftedal and Duncan Henderson. The wine auction at the banquet raised $1,440 from 21 donors and the seat naming auction raised an additional $26,435. Coach Simon’s Fundraising Pyramid had three levels.  The pyramid was introduced as having a $150,000 base for Current Operations but that was later increased to $175,000, $50,000 at the next level for annual Fleet Replacement, and “+” at the peak for Scholarship/Endowment. Strokewatch, Summer 2018, 9.  

Due to alumni financial support, Coach Hoadley noted that he was “able to retire boats that were twice as old as some of our rowers, and add the following boats to our fleet.

  “The Henderson Brothers” eight        
“Terry Oftedal” eight
“Brian Boxer Wachler” single           
“Ted Humphrey” single              
an unnamed single
A new Hudson [S5.31 Hammerhead Super Predator bow coxed] four purchased in official UCLA colors.”
Simon Hoadley, “Year End Letter From Coach Simon”, Strokewatch, Summer 2018, 2. 

 Twenty Board members represented the over 1000 members of FOUR.  A program named The Engine Room was created, forming a “group of benefactors whose recurring annual [or monthly] contributions are dedicated to fund the annual operating needs of UCLA Men’s Crew to bring predictability and stability to the team’s annual budget.” During the first year there were twenty-six members, whose annual recurring gift pledges ranged from $100 to $20,000. The Engine Room generated approximately $45,000 annually and was growing. “Announcements”, Strokewatch, Winter 2019.

2019

In a year that began with third place finish in the Collegiate Four event at the Head of the Charles Regatta, from a field of 40 entries, included a low point of temporary team suspension, and a highlight of the Varsity eight placing eleventh at the ACRA Championships, ended with Coach Hoadley’s contract not being renewed.

 Even with alumni fund raising support, each UCLA oarsman was still required to pay roughly $2,000 per year. The participation dues covered approximately half of the per-oarsman cost of equipment, travel, salaries, uniforms, etc. The balance of the annual operating budget being made up with contributions from donors. By January, FOUR reported that $109,904.33, representing 45.33% of the fund raising goal had been achieved.

 In late December 2018 the FOUR leadership, “learned that the UCLA Men’s Rowing team had been suspended in order to review allegations involving inappropriate student and group conduct. That formal review was undertaken by the Recreation Department in late December and completed in mid-January.

“Given the sensitive nature of the allegations and potential administrative ramifications, we were asked not to interfere with the inquiry, a request that the FOUR board honored. Respect for due process and the uncertainty of when— and if—the suspension would be lifted compelled the FOUR board, after due deliberation, to postpone Alumni Weekend to a later date, deferring plans and preparations accordingly.

“In the context of these unfortunate and challenging circumstances, and given FOUR’s unwavering mission to support the team, those athletes whose conviction brought the issues to light, the venerable traditions of UCLA Men’s Rowing, and due process for all concerned, the board engaged in robust discussion and debate over our proper and desirable role. In both regular and specially set board meetings, diverse and thoughtful opinions were heard from all quarters of the board, culminating in a singular consensus that, among other things, FOUR supports a team environment that exemplifies personal and social responsibility and moral leadership; FOUR reaffirms its commitment to support Men’s Crew financially; and FOUR supports every athlete on the team, particularly those on the receiving end of misconduct and those who joined their teammates to right a wrong. The board determined to redouble fundraising efforts, to coordinate more frequent board-member visits to the team, and to reinforce these values and our commitment to the crew. Each of these actions is now well underway.

“In January [2019], the university’s exhaustive review of the team culminated in various actions, to include developing a training model to address the initial allegations and improve team dynamics, building a community of support and respect, and goal-setting for the rowing season and beyond. The team returned to the ergometers on January 23 and returned to the water on February 1. Individually and as a team, life lessons are being learned. With the benefit of team-engaged focused training and a cultural reset, and having lost a few members of the crew, the squad still exceeds 55 athletes and they’re back on track, preparing for the upcoming racing season. And we, FOUR, have their back.”
Bob Frassetto, “President’s Message”, Strokewatch, Winter 2019.

 This year’s UC Challenge Cup included Cal in the varsity, 2V and varsity (Cal lightweights) four events.  UCLA placed fourth in the varsity eight behind Cal, UC San Diego and UC Irvine, but ahead of UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis.  The Bruin JV eight placed sixth, in last place.  The novice squad fared better winning the 2ndNovice eight and placed third in the novice eight defeating UC Santa Barbara.  The following weekend the Bruins hosted the UCLA Classic. The varsity eight field consisted of Orange Coast (2 crews), UC Irvine (2 crews), Arizona State, a Long Beach State/Chapman composite and UCLA (2 crews). UCLA won the open four event, placed third in the novice eight final amongst three Orange Coast crews, and was second to Orange Coast in the final of the varsity eight.

 Two weeks later UCLA attended the Newport Regatta. In the varsity eight, UC Santa Barbara was second to Orange Coast, the Bruins finished in third ahead of UC Irvine and San Diego State.  The 2V finished fourth of four crews, and the novice eight and 2ndNovice eight both finished in fourth place in their races.  Something unique to this season was the trip by the varsity eight and four to race varsity PAC-12 team Oregon State in Dexter, Oregon. Oregon State swept the Bruins, including all three OSU varsity crews finishing in front of UCLA’s eight, the first crew finishing 29.8 seconds ahead of the Bruins.  The San Diego Crew Classic followed, and was three weeks prior to the scheduled WIRA Championship. The varsity eight placed fourth in their heat of the American Specialty Health (Cal) Cup behind Purdue, Santa Clara and Orange Coast, advancing them to the eight-boat grand final, where they finished eighth, behind the crews that had defeated them in the heat plus UC San Diego, MIT, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara.  The novice eight earned sixth place in their final as the only other UCLA men’s entry.

 In a break with the past extending back to 2011, UCLA did not compete at the WIRA Championship. The did attend the PAC-12 Championship and placed poorly.  The UCLA men’s team placed last of the six teams, one point below the Washington State club-level team.  In four of the events UCLA’s entries finished last, varsity four fourth, novice eight third, 3V eight fifth and 2V eight sixth.  Only in the varsity eight, the Bruins finishing fifth, did they defeat a single crew and that was Washington State.

 Of  UCLA’s six entries at the ACRA Championship, two crews, the quadruple scull (third place) and 2V eight (fifth place) made it to the grand finals.  The other crews advanced to the petite finals.  The varsity eight was eleventh overall, the lightweight four and novice eight both placed tenth and the double-scull was fifteenth. Their ranking amongst the men’s team moved up a bit compared to the previous two years to thirteenth.

 In June 2019, UCLA Recreation decided not to renew UCLA Men's Rowing Head Coach Simon Hoadley's contract. The head coach being a university employee working under the auspices of UCLA Recreation and that department is ultimately responsible for the coach.