The Washington men’s and women’s team will be competing against the University of California this weekend in the Bay Area.

The UW men’s rowing team, as defending Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) champions, will race against the No. 6 ranked California Golden Bears for the Schoch Cup in Redwood Shores, Calif., tomorrow.

UW won the cup last year, and California will be looking to claim it back.

“We both have a lot of really good athletes and really good competitors,” said Ben Fletcher, assistant men’s crew coach. “The tradition has gone back to the early 1900s. It’s us versus them. It’s a big rivalry.”

Fletcher said the team doesn’t have a special strategy for tomorrow’s race — they’re simply going to race and hope for the best.

“It’s a simple sport,” he said. “You launch the boat, you race the boat, you dock the boat. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”

The UW women’s rowing team will be facing their toughest challenge yet, as the Golden Bears women’s varsity eight boat is ranked No. 1 nationally. The UW women’s varsity dropped to 15th overall, after the disappointing loss to Oregon State last Saturday.

“It’s a big race,” said women’s crew coach Bob Ernst. “I think that they’ll row a little bit better than they have in the last couple of weeks. I think we’re getting some things sorted out.”

The Huskies last saw the Golden Bears at the San Diego Crew Classic, where every UW team beat the California competition. This time, the Dawgs race head-to-head on Berkeley’s home water.

The Huskies are in for a challenge, Ernst said.

“They will probably go fast all the way down the course,” he said.

Ernst said he is keeping the team focused on the big picture.

“The game for us is to finish as high as we can at the Pac-10 championships,” he said.

The Pac-10 championships will take place on May 18.

The Women’s varsity is set to kickoff the day at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s varsity at 9:15 a.m. The women’s varsity four boat race will conclude the day’s events at 10:20 a.m.