US Collegiate Rowing – Week Eight Race Preview

As the regular season draws to an end, national championship bids are there to be earned this weekend, as the first few conferences crown their champions. While the racing is more limited this weekend than in previous weeks, it is no less impactful or important.

SEC Championships

Following Texas and Oklahoma’s arrival in the conference last summer, the SEC has been lifted to four rowing programmes. While not enough to earn an automatic NCAA bid for the conference, the administrator in Birmingham, Alabama viewed it as a great opportunity to launch the conference’s own championship with a four-wide showdown in Oak Ridge.

This weekend, while Alabama and Oklahoma will want to remain in the fight in attempts to earn a long-shot invitation to the event, all eyes will be on the two national title contenders: #2 Texas and #5 Tennessee. The Longhorns will enter the weekends as favourites as the media, coaches and selection committee all rank them above the Lady Vols, there remains murmurs that Dave O’Neill’s squad could be open for an upset. Under his stewardship, Texas is yet to lose a single boat class at a conference championship: could this be the year to change that?

Dad Vail Regatta

One of the oldest championship regattas in the United States, the Cooper River will host both men’s and women’s events this weekend, but it is the former that takes the most intrigue. For the last three years, Drexelhave taken home the top prize but form this season suggests that the Dad Vail trophy is likely to change hands this year. At the start of the season, one would have expected #18 La Salle to take their first win since 1958 having risen sharply in recent seasons under the stewardship of Drexel-alum Ivo Krakic. However, it is a rival from down river in #16 Temple who enter as favourites from a strong season-opener in Princeton to winning the Bergen Cup at the end of April.

With automatic bids for the first two eligible finishers, there will be plenty of exciting racing to look out for, keep an eye on other programmes like Saint Joseph’s to punctuate racing in the grand final or even a Floridian programme to break up the Philadelphia monopoly in their oldest regatta.

National Invitational Rowing Championships

The final event involving division one teams this week is in Lake Quinsigamond as a number of programmes head to the NIRC for a place at the national championships for the top division one varsity eight in the rankings. For the division three teams, this may be a repeat of last week’s New England championships for which the finals were severely impacted by the weather. However, for the few division one programmes in attendance, this will be a showdown for a valuable spot on the start line at the IRA Championships. 

While neither have troubled the top twenty, many analysts view the battle between Hobart and MIT to be both the likely winners of this spot, as well as too close to call. Behind them, if Marist can take a step forward, they may also be in the running this weekend.

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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