Rowing Championships May 30th - June 1st

[GoHorns1]

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The defending NCAA National Champion, No. 2 Texas Rowing, is set for the 2025 NCAA Championships on May 30-June 1 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. Texas has won three of the last four national crowns and will look to secure the program's fourth overall over the weekend.

Texas earned three top-four seeds for the 2025 NCAA Championships. The Longhorns clinched the No. 2 seed in the First Varsity Eight followed by a pair of No. 4 overall seeds in both the Second Varsity Eight and Second Four.

The Longhorn First Varsity Eight will open the 2025 NCAA Championships at 9 a.m. CT Friday in Heat 2 of the I Eight. The Horns (lane 3) will go up against Oregon State (lane 1), Indiana (lane 2), Yale (lane 4) and Penn (lane 5). The Second Varsity Eight (lane 3) will follow in Heat 4 at 10:12 a.m., squaring off with Boston U (lane 1), Syracuse (lane 2), Yale (lane 4), Dartmouth (lane 5) and Rhode Island (lane 6). The Texas First Four (lane 3) will conclude the day in Heat 4 at 11 a.m., facing Northeastern (lane 1), Harvard (lane 2), Yale (lane 4), Dartmouth (lane 5) and Rhode Island (lane 6).

The top three boats in each race will advance to Saturday's A/B semifinals with the remaining boats advancing to the C/D semifinals. On Saturday, the top three boats in the semifinals will advance to the upper final with the remaining boats headed to the lower final on Sunday. A complete schedule for this weekend can be found here.

All three days will be available to stream on NCAA.com/liveschedule. Live results and heat sheets can be accessed at Regatta Timing.

The team championship is composed of 22 teams. Nine conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining thirteen slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the championship field. Teams qualifying for the championship are required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers. For the I Eights, II Eights and Fours, all 22 boats will be seeded into four heats.

The Field

Automatic qualifiers: Rhode Island, Stanford, UCF, Washington, Northeastern, Yale, Fairfield, Boston U and Oregon State.

At-large selections: Brown, California, Dartmouth, Harvard, Indiana, Michigan, Penn, Princeton, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Format/Scoring

The NCAA Rowing champion is determined by total points with points assigned based on the finish in each race. The first-place finisher in the First Varsity Eight will receive 66 points with each subsequent finisher collecting three fewer points – 63 for second, 60 for third, etc. The Second Varsity Eight winner will earn 44 points with each successive finisher collecting two fewer points (42 points for second, 40 points for third, etc.) and the Fours winner will receive 22 points, with the runner-up earning 21 points, third receiving 20 points, etc. Ties will be broken based on the teams' result in the First Eight.

[GoHorns1]

The varsity 8s advance to semifinals.

The varsity 4s and 2nd 8s race later today in the opening round.

[GoHorns1]

Texas 2nd 8s advance to semifinals. The varsity 4s race in about 30 minutes in opening round.

[GoHorns1]

Texas varsity 4s advance to semifinals.

Texas has qualified all three boats to semifinals. Semifinals are Saturday morning.

🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[chennups]

thanks for the updates!

 

[GoHorns1]

All boats advance to the Grand Finals to held Sunday morning!

[Nuufaola]

2 hours ago, GoHorns1 said:

All boats advance to the Grand Finals to held Sunday morning!

Thank you.  Can you summarize for me?  How many boats are in the Grand Finals?

Having three of them seems like a lot!

[GoHorns1]

38 minutes ago, Nuufaola said:

Thank you.  Can you summarize for me?  How many boats are in the Grand Finals?

Having three of them seems like a lot!

There’s three races in the Grand Finals (max for any school is 3). Only 1 boat per school per race

The 1st race is the Varsity 4s (4 rowers and 1 coxsman)

The 2nd race is the Varsity 8s II (8 rowers and 1 coxsman)

The 3rd race is the Varsity 8s II (8 rowers and 1 coxsman))

The Varsity 8s I is the biggest race and worth the most points the 4s are worth the least amount of points. Each race consists of 6 boats.

Stanford will be  difficult to beat.

[tsip92]

3 hours ago, GoHorns1 said:

All boats advance to the Grand Finals to held Sunday morning!

Did any of the serious competition lose any boats along the way?

[GoHorns1]

@NuufaolaEach race consists of 6 boats.

Scoring:

1st place 4s is 22, 21, 20…

1st II 8s is 44, 42,40…

1st I 8s is 66, 63,60…

 

[GoHorns1]

8 minutes ago, tsip92 said:

Did any of the serious competition lose any boats along the way?

All the main competitions got 3 boats to Grand Finals.

Stanford, Washington, Tennessee and Texas are the favorites especially Stanford.

[GoHorns1]

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – For the seventh year in a row, No. 2 Texas Rowing advanced all three boats to the NCAA Championships 'A' Finals after taking home a semifinal victory in the First Four and claiming a pair of runner-up finishes by the Eights at Mercer Lake on Saturday. Each boat will compete for an NCAA National Championship in Sunday's Grand Finals.

Texas is one of four programs to send all boats to the 'A' Finals this year, joining Stanford, Yale and Washington.

"These Saturday semifinals are always tough and very stressful, so it's very satisfying to get all three boats into their A finals," Texas head coach Dave O'Neill said. "This gives us a chance for a great day tomorrow. We might not be the favorite, but we're in the hunt for sure."

Due to forecasted inclement weather, Saturday morning's schedule was bumped up, creating early start times in cold and windy conditions. Additionally, the First Four fought against rain in the final race of the morning.

With a 6:20 a.m. CT start, the Texas First Varsity Eight punched its ticket into the 'A' Final with a runner-up finish in 6:07.677 while competing in a loaded semifinal. Texas, Princeton and Stanford were neck-and-neck through the first 500 meters before Stanford emerged out front and Texas positioned itself in second. Stanford won the race in 6:03.543 while Texas beat out third-place Washington, who finished in 6:10.311, by almost a boat-length. Rutgers claimed fourth in 6:13.429 followed by fifth-place Princeton (6:15.781) and sixth-place Michigan (6:21.641).

"The First Eight came out really hot this morning. We fixed some things from yesterday, and being able to make adjustments at this event is really important. Conditions were a little challenging, so it was good to have a solid bow pair of Abby Dawson and Lucy Searle keeping it steady and strong for the rest of the crew."

In the next race, the Texas II Eight pieced together another hard-fought effort in their-runner-up finish, clinching its spot in the 'A' Final. Stanford presumed an early lead and hung onto to it, winning in 6:12.600 followed by Texas, who clocked in a final time of 6:17.724. Virginia (3rd- 6:20.084), Tennessee (4th- 6:21.368), California (5th- 6:22.656) and Syracuse (6th- 6:38.244) followed.

"The Second Eight had another solid race, and it's good to see them going so well. There are some good rowers in there, and they've come together well the last couple of weeks. Phoebe Robinson and Allie Altonhave provided some good power, length and leadership in the middle of that crew."

The Texas I Four put together a masterful race en route to its second victory of the weekend to clinch a spot in the 'A' Final. Stanford jumped out to an early lead, but the Longhorns charged back and made a brilliant move to overtake the Cardinal at the 1,500-meter mark. The Horns then held onto the lead to win by a boat-length in 6:57.731 followed by Stanford (2nd-6:59.939), Tennessee (3rd-7:04.461), Syracuse (5th-7:04.799), Harvard (5th-7:09.601) and Princeton (6th-7:13.247).

"Our Four was terrific, and they're just getting faster. They rowed beautifully in the second half of that race, and it was great to see them get the win. This is first time racing at the championship for Dani Thiermann, Jess Colbran, and Paris West, and they keep getting faster."

Texas is set to compete in Sunday's Grand Finals in pursuit of its fourth NCAA title over the last five years, beginning with the I Four at 8:36 a.m. CT. The II Eight will race at 9 a.m. CT and the I Eight will close out the national regatta at 9:24 a.m. CT.

The final day of the NCAA Championships can be streamed on NCAA.com/liveschedule. Live results and heat sheets can be accessed at Regatta Timing.

Lineups: 

I Eight: Amy Werner (Cox), Sue Holderness, Imy Grey, Marg Van der Wal, Ilva Boone, Phoebe Wise, Lucy McFarlane, Lucy Searle and Abby Dawson.

II Eight: Bronwen Holmes (Cox), Rhiannon Luke, Katherine Nordheim, Phoebe Robinson, Allie Alton, Amelia Gleed, Savvy Jerome, Taryn Kooyers and Ellie Rodriguez.

I Four: Paris West (Cox), Nadja Yaroschuk, Daniela Thiermann, Jess Colbran and Paula Becher.

[Nuufaola]

Hi guys.  I am in Europe.  What ever happened to our team?

I assume we didn’t win given I didn’t get a bunch of texts?

 

[GoHorns1]

1 hour ago, Nuufaola said:

Hi guys.  I am in Europe.  What ever happened to our team?

I assume we didn’t win given I didn’t get a bunch of texts?

 

Third behind Stanford and Yale

[GoHorns1]

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – Texas Rowing wrapped up a successful run at the 2025 NCAA Championships with a third-place finish at Mercer Lake on Sunday. It marks the eighth-consecutive top-four finish for the Longhorns. In addition, Texas has finished inside the top-three in six of the last seven national meets including three national titles, all under head coach Dave O'Neill.

Texas totaled 118 points – the fifth-highest points total at a national meet in program history. Stanford won the title after compiling 129 total points, and Yale finished as the national runner-up with 121 points. Following third-place Texas (118 points), Washington finished fourth (117), Tennessee fifth (106), Princeton sixth (99), Brown seventh (95), Rutgers eighth (83) and California and Virginia tied for ninth (79) to round out the top-10.

Forecasted strong winds moved up Sunday's schedule with the first race for the Horns kicking off at 7:08 a.m. CT. Mercer Lake saw clear skies and 7-8 mph winds throughout Grand Finals. The wind started to pick up at the start of the I Eight Grand Final.

The Texas First Four commenced Grand Finals by clinching its sixth-straight top-three finish at the national regatta, placing third in 6:59.548 to earn a spot on the podium. It was a tight race from start-to-finish between third-place Texas, first-place Stanford and runner-up Washington. Stanford won it in 6:56.532 followed by Washington (2nd-6:58.598), Texas (3rd-6:59.548), Yale (4th-7:01.820), Rutgers (5th-7:01.858) and Tennessee (6th-7:12.228).

The II Eight registered a fourth-place finish after crossing the finish line in 6:17.213. It was a hard-fought battle for the Horns against Stanford (1st-6:13.075), Washington (2nd-6:14.931), Princeton (4th-6:15.021), Yale (6:19.535) and Virginia (6th-6:27.933). The Second Eight has finished inside the top-four in back-to-back seasons after posting a runner-up finish in 2024. The II Eight has also notched a top-four finish in five of the last six national regattas.

In the final race of the 2025 campaign, the Texas I Eight had a podium finish after placing third in 6:09.848. Yale won in 6:06.138 followed by Stanford (2nd-6:08.336), Texas (3rd-6:09.848), Tennessee (4th-6:10.912), Washington (5th-6:12.538) and Brown (6th-14.088). With the clutch effort by the I Eight, Texas was able to fend off the Washington Huskies to solidify a third-place team finish to cap the weekend. The I Eight has tallied a podium finish in six of the last seven national meets.

 

 

Final Team Scores (Team – Points)

1. Stanford – 129
2. Yale – 121
3. TEXAS – 118
4. Washington – 117
5. Tennessee – 106
6. Princeton – 99
7. Brown – 95
8. Rutgers – 83
9. California, Virginia – 79 
11. Michigan – 74
12. Syracuse – 67
13. Harvard – 65
14. Indiana – 58
15. UCF – 52
16. Dartmouth, Pennsylvania – 39
18. Oregon State – 33
19. Northeastern – 27
20. Boston U – 20
21. Rhode Island – 12
22. Fairfield – 6

 

Lineups: 

I Eight: Amy Werner (Cox), Sue Holderness, Imy Grey, Marg Van der Wal, Ilva Boone, Phoebe Wise, Lucy McFarlane, Lucy Searle and Abby Dawson.

II Eight: Bronwen Holmes (Cox), Rhiannon Luke, Katherine Nordheim, Phoebe Robinson, Allie Alton, Amelia Gleed, Savvy Jerome, Taryn Kooyers and Ellie Rodriguez.

I Four: Paris West (Cox), Nadja Yaroschuk, Daniela Thiermann, Jess Colbran and Paula Becher.

[ArizonaLonghorn]

10 minutes ago, GoHorns1 said:

Third behind Stanford and Yale

Doesn't feel quite as bad coming in behind these athletic factories with easy academic standards who will let in ANYBODY who can row a boat. 

[Nuufaola]

4 hours ago, GoHorns1 said:

Third behind Stanford and Yale

Bummer but thank you 

[GoHorns1]

39 minutes ago, Nuufaola said:

Bummer but thank you 

Stanford scored 129 of max 132.

[Thailand T Sip]

Great information! Not a lot of folks are aware of how the sport works. The races were very contested. I figured Stanford would be elite given the talent and maturity of their crews. Didn't know a lot about Yale. Really didn't waste any energy with each boat. Really an entertaining watch on ncaa.com.

Our crews should be among the top 2026 teams, especially with this season's growth. SEC creating a championship really helps, especially with getting to compete with Tennessee regularly.

Hook 'em!