US Women’s Collegiate Rowng 2025 – Week 3 Review

With the season now in full flow, there were several exciting duals stretching from coast to coast this weekend. While the results were largely predictable, the margins told a different story, as some crews are looking to build throughout the season.

Redwood Shores

The biggest racing of the weekend came as #2 Stanford and #6 California hosted their new conference rivals #9 Virginia and #10 Syracuse. Predictions held as the West Coast crews had too much for their visiting opposition across all of the racing; plenty is to be said about how they achieved those victories. Stanford continued their national title push with double-digit margins in all but one of their NCAA races, while California struggled a little more, particularly against Syracuse who brought the pressure in the final race of the event. The coxed four from the Orange was possibly the boat of the event, posting close results against both Stanford and Cal.

Council and Woodbury Cups

Once again, the Boston-based Northeastern and Boston University duo hosted Ivy League opposition as #20 Columbia came to town. In almost-unrowable conditions, the Lions came out on top, narrowly defeating Northeastern in both of the eights to retain the Woodbury Cup. Behind them, Northeastern overturned their margin from last week against the Terriers, claiming their Council cup by 1.4 seconds. This change in outcomes following their defeat seven days previous may show a correction from the Huskies but may otherwise be explained by the dreadful conditions in the basin.

#4 Princeton, #16 Harvard-Radcliffe at Cornell

With one of the latest openers of any major programme, #16 Harvard-Radcliffe opened their season with a strong performance against #4 Princeton and Cornell in Saratoga Springs. While Princeton did reign victorious for the 36^th time in its history, the black and white posted strong margins to suggest they may be in contention for their first NCAA bid since the pandemic.

Other Duals

Making the trip down south for their annual dual, #13 Michigan left with poor results from their trip to Austin. #1 Texas was a class above the crew with strong ambitions for the season, as the 7.2-second margin in the first eight was the closest across the day’s racing.

Elsewhere, #5 Yale overmatched #16 Dartmouth as the Bulldogs continue to build their national championship ambitions.

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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