LA JOLLA, Calif. — The UC San Diego women's rowing team is set to lead the Triton Athletics program into the West Coast Conference (WCC) as it will be the first to compete as an affiliate member for the 2026-27 academic year.

"Women's rowing joining the West Coast Conference this fall is a great first step for our department," said UC San Diego Director of Athletics Andy Fee. "This program has built a reputation for competing at a high level, and the WCC gives the team a conference home that matches that ambition. It's also a preview of what's ahead for the rest of Triton Athletics when we officially join the league in 2027. I couldn't be more proud of our scholar-athletes and coaches for representing UC San Diego as we begin this next chapter."

Announced in September of 2025, a majority of UC San Diego's athletics programs will officially join the West Coast Conference as full members on July 1, 2027. The Tritons will compete in 14 of the WCC's 16 sponsored sports including men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's water polo, baseball, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's golf, and women's rowing.

"Women's rowing is proud to be leading the charge for UC San Diego Athletics by joining the West Coast Conference," said Kimberly Dale, interim head coach of UC San Diego's women's rowing program. "Entering a new conference is a chance to embrace new standards and new opportunities while challenging ourselves to grow on and off the water. We appreciated our time in the Coastal Athletic Conference (CAA) as we gained so much experience and we are excited to extend that to our natural rivals in the West Coast Conference. We have always raced these great WCC teams and are ready to do so in a championship atmosphere. We will lead with integrity, compete with purpose, and build relationships to make us stronger than ever."

The addition of UC San Diego in women's rowing gives the West Coast Conference seven teams for the upcoming 2026-27 season. The Tritons join Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, Santa Clara, Seattle U, and fellow affiliate member Creighton.

"We are excited to strengthen the level of competition in West Coast Conference rowing by welcoming UC San Diego as an affiliate member this season," said West Coast Conference Commissioner Stu Jackson. "It's great to have this head start on our shared future with the Tritons as they begin their conference integration by competing as a rowing affiliate in 2027. We're looking forward to both UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara joining the WCC as full-time members next academic year."

UC San Diego finished fifth at the 2026 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championships. Prior to transitioning to the Division I level in 2020-21, the Tritons made numerous appearances at the Division II NCAA Championships, including the varsity eight finishing second in 2018.

In 2027 the West Coast Conference membership will include Denver, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Seattle U, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara.

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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 39 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.

About The West Coast Conference
The West Coast Conference, founded in 1952, is a premier NCAA Division I conference with a longstanding history of national competitive excellence and institutions of great academic distinction. Guided by its "We Rise in the West" identity, the conference is represented throughout the Western region's largest cities with a pronounced coastal footprint. Conference membership is driven by championship ambition and core values of integrity, respect, collaboration, innovation, inclusiveness and the holistic well-being of its student-athletes.