US Collegiate Men’s Rowing 2025 – Conference Championships Review

The penultimate act of a phenomenal season is over, with only the national championships left to come. This weekend, the best on the East and West Coasts united to crown their conference champions and set up the narratives for the national championships in less than a fortnight’s time.

Eastern Sprints

While 15 schools gave it their best shot, the water of Lake Quinsigamond ran in the crimson of #3 Harvard on Sunday, with the Cambridge institution winning all but two races they entered, including sweeping the top three eights events for both heavyweight and lightweight men. In the top heavyweight event, #5 Dartmouth were within two seconds of gold after overcoming a slow start, to claim their second-best ever finish at this regatta. #4 Princeton won bronze, but #9 Yale had arguably the biggest overperformance of the regatta, finishing in fourth place after a tough regular season. Outside the grand final, the racing perfectly followed the suggestions of the JRN Media Poll, with #12 Wisconsin finishing in ninth as the final automatic qualifier for the national championships on the Cooper River. However, I would expect the remainder of the field to make the cut as at-large selections.

MPSF Championships

The inaugural edition of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s Rowing Championship was a great success, with the top of the time sheets focused on another round of the rivalry between #1 Washington and #2 California following their Dual in Seattle three weeks ago.

Opening the finals day on Lake Natoma, all went as previously as California won the freshman eight, while Washington defended their lead in the second and third eights. However, in the blue ribband event, it was a change of fates. Despite having the poorer of the starts, the Golden Bears established an early lead and managed it throughout the race, finishing the course just over a second faster than the Washington crew.

Behind them, #7 Stanford remained in close contact for a strong result, but focus was on the petite final, where the former Western Sprints schools faced off for the final two spots in the eights events for the IRA championships. Ultimately, it was UC San Diego and Gonzaga who will make the trip, with Santa Clara painfully missing out in the varsity eight by 0.8 seconds, while their second crew performed the best out of the group.

About The Author

Fraser Innes

Fraser joined the JRN team in September 2022 and regularly writes about domestic and international rowing with particular specialisation on US Collegiate Rowing having launched JRN’s coverage and being a staple on the End of the Island’s series on the topic. He has been involved with the sport since 2016 at George Heriot’s School and the Universities of Glasgow and Wisconsin.

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