I think your "recruitment" to probably mirror that of some of the guys of my era- i.e., high level, HS rowers, but not elite international guysm. We even had some guys on the squad from Norther Virginia, including one Michael Callahan.To add on to @YellowSnow 's comments on the mid/late 90s and Cal switching over to scholarships and Europeans, with Cal winning in 99 and the way they won I did not even consider Cal as an option when looking at schools.