STORY AND PHOTO COURTESY CAL ATHLETICS
BERKELEY – The No. 1 California men’s rowing team’s dominance in the Pac-12 was reflected in the postseason awards that were announced by the conference office Friday afternoon, as graduate student Ollie Maclean won Male Athlete of the Year and head coach Scott Frandsen took home Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
A Golden Bear has been named the Pac-12 Male Athlete of the Year nine times in the 15-year history of the award, while Cal has collected the Coach of the Year honor 12 total times.
Junior Frederik Breuer, and sophomores Iwan Hadfield, Gennaro di Mauro and Tim Roth all made the All-Pac-12 team, marking the second straight year Cal has had at least four rowers on the all-conference team.
Maclean is just the third rower in Pac-12 history to have consecutive Athlete of the Year honors and joins former rower Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk as the only other Bear to do so. He was a steady presence for the team riding in the fifth seat of the varsity eight that went undefeated for the second straight season, retained the coveted Schoch Cup by defeating Washington and repeated as Pac-12 Champions last week. After this season, Maclean will prepare for international competition as he will be in the final group for selection to New Zealand’s 4- team that will compete at this year’s World Championships and will also contend for a spot on their 2024 Olympic team.
Breuer, Hadfield, di Mauro and Roth made the all-conference team for the first time after being a mainstay on Cal’s top-ranked varsity eight crew. Breuer, the 2021 Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year, rowed in the two-seat while Hadfield, a 2022 IRCA All-American second team, has had the stroke position this year. Di Mauro, last year’s Newcomer of the Year and 2020 Olympian for Italy, spent the season in the four-seat and Roth, a 2022 IRCA All-American second team, rowed in the six-seat.
Frandsen is fresh off leading his team to back-to-back Pac-12 Championships for the first time since 2005-06. He is just the second coach in program history to win the conference award in consecutive seasons and is the fourth coach in program history to earn the accolade joining seven-time winner Steve Gladstone, Tim Hodges and Mike Teti.
The Bears are now in preparation for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships which begin Friday, June 2 in Camden, New Jersey.