2025 SRAA National Championship – Boy’s Second Varsity Eight Preview

This weekend, America’s top scholastic crews will race at the 2025 SRAA Scholastic National Championship Regatta. This year’s race will be hosted on the Cooper River in New Jersey. Crews racing will have qualified from one of eight regional championship regattas, or will have been granted an entry based on petition. 2025 will see 15 entrants battle it out in the boy’s senior second eight category.

Chaminade High School

Chaminade High School is a scholastic program on Long Island, New York. In 2024, they placed fourth in this event, just eight seconds off Gonzaga. Chaminade placed sixth in the time trial this year at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta. Additionally, the program placed second among scholastic programs at the NY State Scholastic Championship. Chaminade may be a smaller program, but they will be racing doggedly for the podium this year at SRAAs.

Gonzaga College High School Crew

The oldest boys’ high school in Washington, DC, Gonzaga, has developed a strong rowing program since its inception in the early nineteenth century. At SRAAs, the Gonzaga second eight won in 2024 and 2022. In 2023, they claimed the silver medal. This year at Stotesbury, they placed second. This result put them just 2 seconds off Saint Joseph’s Prep, the program that placed third in the second eight at Youth Nationals last summer. Gonzaga is a deep program, and that will be reflected in this year’s second eight at SRAAs.

New Trier High School Rowing

Out of Winnetka, Illinois, New Trier is an established scholastic program in both men’s and women’s youth rowing. In this event, New Trier placed second in 2022, won in 2023, and placed third in 2024. In terms of this season, the second eight placed second at the Midwest Scholastic Championship, only falling behind a strong Central Catholic Crew. A history of podiums in this event suggests a similar result in this year’s race.

St. Ignatius Wildcat Rowing

The St. Ignatius Wildcats are one of the faster scholastic programs in the Midwest. Based out of Cleveland, Ohio, Saint Ignatius has a good record at SRAAs. They came third in 2022 and second in 2024. The crew placed third at Midwests this month, just two seconds off New Trier over 1500 meters. With an upward trajectory, perhaps St. Ignatius can snatch gold in this year’s second varsity eight race.

Predictions

These teams have traded places at Scholastic Nationals for the last three years. Consistent contenders in the second eight, all are great teams with lots of depth. This year, I predict Gonzaga to win based on a strong result at Stotesbury. Next, I predict New Trier to claim silver, yet again showing consistency and depth. I put Saint Ignatius behind New Trier, similar to the result at Midwest Scholastics. I believe Chaminade will place fourth, maintaining the same position as last year.