As the spring season rapidly approaches, several crews have caught our attention. These crews have demonstrated clear upward momentum and have the potential to impress at the top level in the coming months.
St. Joseph’s Preparatory
St. Joe’s Prep showed up ready for this head race season. They took dominant wins at Head of the Housatonic and Head of the Schuylkill, and finished second at the Head of the Charles, just 0.3 seconds behind St. Paul’s, earning the top American spot. They boast a group of strong seniors, including a trio of Yale commits in Spencer Morinigo, Aidan Walker, and Brooks Brewington, as well as USA U19 eight six-seat and Brown commit Matt Dopkin. Backed by a plethora of talented underclassmen from their national champion U17 eight, they’ll be coming into the spring with nothing but gold on their mind.
Greenwich Crew
Right on the heels of St. Joe’s this fall has been Greenwich Crew. After a rare trip down to the B-final at last year’s national championships, they look to be back in contention for a trophy this June. They’ve returned several top talents and have received an additional boost from new Latvian international Henrijs Skirmants. They closed the gap on St. Joe’s at each of the fall’s major head races and took an outright victory in the 1V, 2V, and 3V over 2k at the Mercer Fall Classic. A clear national championship contender, they’ll be looking to keep the momentum rolling into the spring.
Deerfield
After a relatively quiet spring season last year, Deerfield shocked everyone with an impressive second-place finish in the varsity eight at the 2025 USRowing Youth National Championships. While they graduated some top rowers, they currently boast what is likely the most formidable recruiting class in the entire country: USA U19 quad member and Stanford commit Zander Auth, Stanford commit Dominic Puccinelli, Penn commits Ethan Amundson and Leo Friedman, Cornell commit Sasha Djunic, and Dartmouth commit Magnus Selvig. Likely to keep a similarly low profile to start the spring, Deerfield will still undoubtedly be pushing for a win come June.
Norcal Crew
The arrival of new head coach John Kaitz from USC has proven to be incredibly impactful for Norcal Crew. They returned to the eight last year, demonstrating a clear upward trajectory despite an ultimately disappointing 14th-place finish at the USRowing Youth National Championships. They’ve graduated five seniors from last year’s varsity crew, but that’s been no roadblock, with several rowers from their A-final 2V8+ stepping in to keep the momentum going. So far, they’ve pushed the standard even more this year, earning a fourth-place finish at the Head of the Charles, the highest of all West Coast teams. Watch out for Norcal this spring as they look to move up the ranks.
Saugatuck
A perennial contender, Saugatuck took a step back last year with a C-final finish at the USRowing Youth National Championships, but have come back fiercely this fall. With several returners from their varsity eight backed by underclassmen from their national champion U17 coxed four, they’ve proven they can hang with the best of them. They finished third at Head of the Housatonic and Head of the Schuylkill, and seventh at the Head of the Charles, up 15 places from last year. They’ll certainly have their eyes on a return to the A-final—and likely more—as the spring kicks off.
Belen Jesuit
Another crew that keeps a slightly lower profile, Belen Jesuit are nonetheless one to look out for. Last year, their varsity eight placed sixth, while their U17 quad claimed the national championship. This year, they opted for the quad at the Head of the Charles, where they placed third overall and first among American crews. They then switched over to the eight for Head of the Hooch, which they won dominantly, ten seconds over the 12th-place Head of the Charles crew, Atlanta Juniors. They won’t have many opportunities to test their speed this spring, but come nationals, they’ll be looking to return to the A-final and prove what they can do.
Pocock
An undefeated season that included a national championship in the coxed four may seem tough to top, but Pocock has the tools to pull off an even more impressive run this year if they stick with the boat class. They return three of four rowers from their national champion crew: Washington commit and USA U19 eight member Ben Ewer, Harvard commit Lars Andrews, and Brown commit Miller Weimann. Look out for Pocock as they chase down back-to-back national championships this June.
Kent School
The clearest challengers to Pocock in the coxed four are Kent School, who announced themselves with a bang this year at the Head of the Charles. They won the youth coxed four event by a staggering 16-second margin, claiming a course record of 15:58.500 in the process. The crew boasts a host of talents, with Dartmouth commit Calvin Gustafson and Northeastern commit Xavier Sanchez supported by new additions Joseph Bendik from Marin and Serbian international Vukasin Radovic. Kent are absolutely a crew to watch out for, and we’re sure to hear more about them come spring.
Takeaways
While teams such as Row America Rye, Marin, PNRA/Mercer, NAC, Los Gatos, and more will surely be competing for top spots this spring, the crews on this list have so far shown the most potential to outperform expectations. We’re looking forward to seeing what they can do this year.
