Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States. The first intercollegiate race was a contest between Yale and Harvard in 1852. In the 2018–19 school year, there were 2,340 male and 7,294 female collegiate rowers (on 57 and 148 teams, respectively) in Divisions I, II and III, according to the NCAA . The sport has grown since the first NCAA statistics were compiled for the 1981–82 school year, which reflected 2,053 male and 1,187 female collegiate rowers (on 48 and 43 teams, respectively) in the three divisions. Some concern has been raised that some recent female numbers are inflated by non-competing novices.
58-545: The Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference ( MARC ) is a men's and women's intercollegiate rowing conference. The Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference was established in January 2009 by nine charter member schools: Bryn Mawr College , Franklin & Marshall College , Johns Hopkins University , Marietta College , University of Mary Washington , North Park University , Richard Stockton College , Rutgers University–Camden , and Washington College . These nine schools previously held annually
116-454: A men's team have added women's rowing to the athletic department and are providing funding and athletic scholarships for the expensive and demanding sport, contributing to a noticeable increase in the success and competitiveness of many collegiate women's rowing teams. This, in part, is to comply with Title IX ; many of the football powers use women's rowing to help balance out the large number of scholarships awarded to male football players. As
174-785: A result, many women's college rowers have not previously competed at high school or for a club team. When Canadian sculler Joseph Wright began coaching at Penn in 1916, he discovered that he had a number of smaller but excellent oarsmen. His idea of creating a crew composed entirely of these lighter weight rowers—averaging 150 pounds per man—quickly spread to other institutions, and by 1919 the American Rowing Association officially recognized competition in lightweight rowing by 150-pounders in eight-oared shells. The initial weight difference between lightweights and heavyweights of that era—about 20 pounds—was not particularly substantial. In fact, lightweight rowers weights were much closer to
232-477: A rower—as compared to the total weight he or she must propel down the course—the greater the speed. In rowing, taller individuals have a leverage advantage, and, as a rule, heavier individuals tend to have more absolute strength to allocate not only to themselves but also to the weight of the equipment and coxswain. A top heavyweight boat will thus be faster than a top lightweight boat, but a top lightweight boat will be faster than many heavyweight boats. For example,
290-471: A rowing championship in 2000 with Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia participating. The 2005 conference realignment cycle brought two rowing schools into the ACC, with Miami and Boston College respectively joining for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Further realignment in the early 2010s brought three more rowing schools into the conference. Notre Dame and Syracuse joined the ACC in 2013, with Louisville joining
348-453: A separate weight category for lighter rowers. The Intercollegiate Rowing Association , known as the IRA, was founded by Cornell , Columbia , and Penn in 1894 and its first annual regatta was hosted on June 24, 1895. Today Navy and Syracuse are also members of the association. Each year these five schools choose whom to invite to the regatta and are responsible for its organization along with
406-545: A total of twenty-two teams. The at-large teams are selected by the NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Committee. The NCAA Division II championship consists of an eight-oared shells and four-oared shell competition. The Division III championship involved both varsity and second varsity eights competing in the same event until 2012. Beginning in 2013, the V-1 and V-2 boats compete in separate events. The Atlantic Coast Conference first held
464-504: A wide variety of competition in less-prominent boat classifications such as pair, sculls, and lightweight racing. There has been spectacular growth in women's rowing over the past 25 years. In 1985, the FISA and Olympic course distance for women was increased from 1,000 meters to 2,000 meters (the same distance raced by men), marking progress in public perception of women's strength, endurance and competitive drive. Universities that have never had
522-721: Is a rowing championship held by the NCAA for Division I women's heavyweight (or openweight) collegiate crews. The inaugural National Championship was held in 1997 for the top 16 crews in the country, located at Lake Natoma , Sacramento, California. In 2002, the NCAA added championships for Division II and Division III . All races are 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) long. The NCAA does not sponsor men's rowing (both heavyweight and lightweight) and women's lightweight rowing championships. Eleven rowing conferences each get one Automatic Qualifier spot by winning their conference points championship, except for
580-575: Is determined by the team which accumulates the most points. Since 2013, the winner of the I-Eights event gets 66 points, and the team that places second gets 63 points, third gets 60, etc. For the II-Eights there are 44 points for the winner, and the points obtained go down in steps of two for each next spot in the final ranking. For the event with Fours, the winner gets 22 points, and the subsequent finishers get 21, 20, 19, etc. When teams are tied for points after
638-488: Is sometimes open only to college freshmen. However, people who start rowing after their freshman year normally join the novice team as well. The novice squad usually fields a freshman eight -oared boat (8+), and if the team is big enough, a second eight, and/or a four-oared boat (4+). In some collegiate conferences excluding the EARC and Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA), collegiate freshmen/novice can also compete as part of
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#1732883592376696-504: Is the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships. The National Champion in each category is the winner of its respective Varsity 8+ race. The Dad Vail Regatta is considered the national championship for second-tier schools. These include top club teams such as Virginia and Michigan as well as lower level varsity programs such as Hobart and St. Joseph's University. Other club programs and all programs outside
754-635: Is the case at the IRA championship, for example, but not at the Eastern Sprints or Pac-10 championship. Freshman separately competed in the Freshman 8, the Second Freshman 8, a Freshman 4, etc., until 2012 when the IRA permitted freshman eligibility to row in a varsity boat; most leagues followed suit. The IRA eliminated freshman races after 2015. NCAA women's rowing is divided into three divisions with an official NCAA championship: Women rowers compete at
812-715: Is the largest collegiate race in the nation. Starting in 2008, club crews (non-Varsity programs) were no longer allowed to participate in the IRA Regatta, and the ACRA National Championship Regatta is considered the National Championship for collegiate club programs and all programs outside the NCAA/IRA structure. Unlike most collegiate sports, club-level crews regularly compete against Varsity programs and are often competitive. As of 2018, qualification for
870-526: Is the primary season for college rowing and the majority of the schedule is composed of duel races. These 2,000-meter races take place between two or, sometimes, three schools. The winner of these races usually receive shirts from the losing teams. There are also several large regattas, such as the Dad Vail Regatta , Eastern Sprints , Knecht Cup , and the San Diego Crew Classic which may be on
928-722: The American Athletic Conference , in 2013, and Tulsa made the same move a year later. CUSA added two new rowing affiliates for the 2013–14 season in Sacramento State and San Diego State, but both left after that season for The American. The rapid turnover in rowing membership presumably led the Big 12 to take over the CUSA women's rowing league, with the three remaining CUSA rowing schools (Alabama, Old Dominion, Tennessee) becoming Big 12 affiliates. Old Dominion left Big 12 rowing after
986-562: The Atlantic Collegiate League Sprints Championships . Johns Hopkins announced that same year it would end its varsity rowing programs after the 2008-09 season. Two more charter schools discontinued its sponsorship of the sport, the University of Mary Washington, following the completion of the 2013-14 academic year, and Rutgers University–Camden following the completion of the 2015-16 academic year. 2015 brought
1044-536: The CRASH-B Sprints in Boston. This 2,000 meter race is held on ergometers and features separate events for collegiate athletes. Many northeastern colleges have a winter training trip to a warmer state such as Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Texas during either winter break or spring break to give students extra time on the water while the local rivers and lakes are frozen. Spring
1102-570: The NCAA / IRA structure compete at the ACRA National Championship Regatta . In collegiate men's rowing, the First Varsity 8 is meant to be the fastest boat. Oarsmen not selected for the First Varsity 8 are usually placed in the Second Varsity 8 followed by the Third Varsity. Rowers outside of the top two eights are sometimes, depending on the race, put into fours of various categories. This
1160-571: The NCAA Division I Rowing Championship in a Varsity 8 , a Second Varsity 8 , and a Varsity Four . Most teams also field one or more Novice Eight s for novice rowers who have never competed at the collegiate level. Points are awarded for the overall championship based on the performance of those boats. Other head races and regattas such as Head of the Charles or the Pac-12 Championships allow
1218-626: The de facto national championship for men since 1895. Women's rowing initially competed in its intercollegiate championships as part of the National Women's Rowing Association Championship in 1971. From 1980 through 1996, the women's national championships races were conducted at the National Collegiate Rowing Championships in Cincinnati. In the 1996–97 season, most women's intercollegiate rowing programs elected to join
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#17328835923761276-433: The 1996 Atlanta Games. As of 2024, Olympic rowing has removed lightweight rowing from further Olympic games in exchange for coastal rowing. Since rowing is such a technical sport, there is a separate category for novices (rowers with less than one year of experience). This is usually combined with freshman rowers, who may have rowed before in high school, but are in their first year in collegiate rowing. The Freshman squad
1334-547: The 2011 C-USA tournament because of the massive tornado that hit its home city of Tuscaloosa . West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2012, also joining CUSA women's rowing at that time. Also in 2012, Old Dominion moved five of its sports, including women's rowing, from the CAA to CUSA in advance of that school's 2013 entry into full CUSA membership. As a result of the 2013 split of the original Big East Conference , SMU and UCF both left CUSA for that league's football-sponsoring offshoot,
1392-612: The 2017–18 season for the American Athletic Conference. Amid the early-2020s realignment , initially triggered by the announcement that charter Big 12 members (and rowing schools) Oklahoma and Texas would leave for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) no later than 2025 (later confirmed for 2024), Old Dominion returned to Big 12 rowing in 2024–25, and Tulsa was added as a new affiliate at the same time. The Big 12's announcement of its incoming rowing members hinted at
1450-565: The Championship Regatta and annual "Double Duals" races consisting of contests between 2–3 Big Ten competitors. The Big Ten is one of the dominant conferences in women's collegiate rowing, with at least one school being selected to compete at the NCAA Rowing Championships every year since its inception. The Big Ten rowing league expanded to eight members in 2014 when Rutgers joined the conference, and to 11 members in 2024 with
1508-676: The Colonial Athletic Association, began official sponsorship of women's rowing as the conference's 23rd sport in March 2009. Previously, the conference championships were held unofficially as the Kerr Cup, hosted by Drexel University. The first CAA women's rowing championship was conducted on April 18, 2009 in Philadelphia with races in the Varsity 4+, Second Varsity 8+, and Varsity 8+. The event
1566-636: The ECAC. The IRA is the oldest college rowing championship in the United States. Since the 1920s, when the West Coast crews, notably California and University of Washington began to attend and regularly win, most crews considered the Intercollegiate Rowing Association's championship to be a de facto national championship. Two important crews, Harvard and Yale, however, did not participate in
1624-530: The IRA hosts a women's lightweight event. The NCAA currently hosts championships for Division I, Division II and Division III colleges, with Divisions II and III having been added in 2002. NCAA Division I requires colleges to enter two eight-oared shells and one four-oared shell in the team championship. The championship is restricted to eleven conference champions ( American , ACC , A10 , Big Ten , Big 12 , CAA , Ivy , MAAC , Pac-12 , Patriot , and WCC ) as automatic qualifiers and eleven at-large schools for
1682-772: The Ivy League whose Automatic Qualifier goes to the Varsity Eight winner. There are another 11 At-Large spots. The NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Championships have three events (I Eights, II Eights, Fours), and twenty-two teams compete. Eleven teams are selected through automatic qualification based on conference results. An additional eleven at-large teams are selected by the NCAA Rowing Committee. In previous years an additional, four at-large I Eights are selected. As of 2009 all bids must be full teams. Teams are awarded points by their final placing in each event. The NCAA Champion
1740-569: The NCAA as a "Championship" sport. Men's rowing declined to join the NCAA, but virtually all colleges abide by NCAA regulations. Other governing bodies of college rowing in the United States include the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA). Men's rowing is not affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The de facto national championship of Division I men's rowing
1798-475: The NCAA. If they did, the NCAA would sponsor a championship, but it would also force the sport to abide by NCAA rules and mandates. Notwithstanding, collegiate crews generally abide by NCAA rules, and they also have to abide by athletic conference rules, which mirror the NCAA rules. In 1982, a Harvard alumnus decided to remedy this perceived problem by establishing a heavyweight varsity National Collegiate Rowing Championship race in Cincinnati, Ohio. It paid for
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1856-526: The National Championship Regatta comes from automatic qualifying positions at the three major rowing conference championships, three National Regattas, and at-large bids . The automatic qualification bids are assigned as: Typically, there are a total of 24 entries with the above 17 entries granted as automatic qualification bids. The remaining 7 entries are selected by the IRA in the weeks following
1914-651: The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), the University of Connecticut (UConn), and Villanova University. Delaware and Eastern Michigan will leave CAA rowing after the 2024–25 season. Eastern Michigan's full-time home of the Mid-American Conference will establish its own rowing league in 2025–26, with Delaware (which is leaving the CAA for full membership in Conference USA at that time) becoming an associate member. NCAA Division I Rowing Championship The NCAA Division I Rowing Championship
1972-411: The arrival of UCLA, USC, and Washington. The early history of Big 12 Conference women's rowing is intertwined with the rowing history of Conference USA (CUSA). The Big 12 contested its first rowing championship in 2008 (2007–08 school year), initially with Kansas, Kansas State, and Texas. Oklahoma joined the following year. In July 2012 , West Virginia joined the conference for all sports, bringing
2030-600: The conclusion of all qualifying regattas. The IRA awards the Varsity Challenge Cup to the men's heavyweight national championship 8, the 1922 Trophy to the men's lightweight national championship 8, and the Camden County Freeholders Trophy to the women's lightweight national championship 8. The IRA also awards the Ten Eyck Trophy to the university amassing the largest number of points in three of
2088-402: The country during the summer. In the fall, most schools focus on building technical proficiency and improving physical strength and endurance. This is typically accomplished through long steady practice pieces, with occasional shorter interval pieces. In the United States fall is also the season of head races which are typically between three and six kilometers. These longer races are part of
2146-420: The crew is in a league, the duel race and regatta results will also typically be used in determining the team's seeding for the league championship. The Dad Vail Regatta is the largest and most prestigious for smaller schools and is held every May. The lightweight division becomes more prominent during the spring. Many head races lack separate categories for heavyweight/lightweight, but spring races usually have
2204-514: The demise of the National Collegiate Rowing Championship, the IRA again was considered to be the national championship. In 2003, Harvard and Yale, after an absence of over one hundred years, decided to participate. For men's rowing the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia is considered the national championship for smaller college teams unable to compete at the IRA standard (similar to Division III or I-AA in other sports). It
2262-483: The departure of then-current women's rowing associates and full SEC members Alabama and Tennessee , neither of which was included in the list of Big 12 rowing members for 2024–25. SEC bylaws allow it to hold a championship in any sport sponsored by at least 25% of the full membership. The SEC announced the addition of rowing on August 23, 2024 with Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas as its inaugural programs. The Coastal Athletic Association , known before 2023 as
2320-514: The fall is the Princeton Chase, typically in early November on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, New Jersey , and hosted by Princeton University . This is an intense building period for the spring racing season. The training regimen consists primarily of long interval training, which gradually becomes shorter and more intense as the race season approaches. This is done on the water for schools below
2378-623: The first expansion of the MARC, when first-year varsity women's program Johnson & Wales University joined the league. The conference welcomed two more new members in 2016: St. Mary's College of Maryland and Cabrini University , and four more in 2018: Adrian College , Bucknell University , Catholic University and Ohio Wesleyan University , increasing the membership to thirteen. College rowing (United States) Men's rowing has organized collegiate championships in various forms since 1871. The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) has been
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2436-598: The following year. California, SMU, and Stanford joined in 2024 . The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) first held a rowing championship in 1996 with 10 schools participating. Today, nine schools participate. UMass will leave the A-10 after the 2024–25 season to become a full member of the Mid-American Conference , which is starting a rowing league in the 2025–26 season. Departing members are indicated in pink. The Big Ten Conference hosted its first Big Ten Women's Rowing Championship in 2000. Currently seven schools compete in both
2494-561: The foundation for the spring season, building the rower's endurance and mental toughness. The largest fall race is the Head of the Charles Regatta held in Boston each October. This race includes rowers of all ages, abilities, and affiliations and features the best college crews in competition with Olympic-level athletes from the United States and other countries. The largest collegiate-only regatta in
2552-564: The four possible eights from each school. Between 1967 and 1980, women's collegiate boats entered the National Women's Rowing Association National Championships (what is now the USRowing National Championships). The college boats raced against club boats, including boats from outside the United States. The best finishing US collegiate boat was deemed to be the National Champion. The first women's collegiate championship
2610-438: The heavyweight crews of that era than they are now. For men, the maximum weight is currently 160 lbs. For women, the weight limit is 130 lbs. Rowers must propel the weight of their equipment and coxswain as well as their own weight down the race course. The weight of equipment and coxswain is roughly the same for heavyweights and lightweights. As a generalization, the greater the strength, endurance and perseverance of
2668-481: The heavyweight divisions of the event. After losing to Cornell in 1897, Harvard and Yale chose to avoid the IRA, so as not to diminish the Harvard-Yale race. It soon became part of each school's tradition not to go. Beginning in 1973, Washington decided to skip the IRA because a change in schedule conflicted with its finals. Even though rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport, the men have always chosen not to join
2726-467: The number of rowing schools to five. In the meantime, CUSA held its first rowing championship in 2010 (2009–10 school year). The Big 12 and CUSA agreed that the four Big 12 schools that then sponsored the sport would also participate in the CUSA championship. These schools were joined by the three full C-USA members that sponsored the sport (SMU, Tulsa, and UCF) and two Southeastern Conference members (Alabama and Tennessee). Alabama did not participate in
2784-425: The schedule. In this case, the teams compete in either flights, in which the winner is final, or a series of heats and semifinals before the winners move on to the finals. Sprint races begin with all teams lined up and started simultaneously, as opposed to the time trials in the fall. Performing well in these races is the most important selection criteria for the various post season invitation rowing championships. If
2842-630: The size of their men's programs. This is especially apparent in the west, where California Lightweight Crew remains one of the few programs for men's lightweight rowing in that region. However, on the east coast, most Ivy League and EARC schools have well-populated, excellent, fast and well-funded men's lightweight teams. The lightweight men's events at the Eastern Sprints and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship (IRAs) are fiercely contested. For example,
2900-554: The snowline, where warmer climates allow for outdoor workouts. For some of the northern colleges that practice on lakes and rivers that freeze during winter, these pieces are done indoors using ergometers and, if the college is lucky enough to have them, rowperfect rowing simulators and indoor rowing tanks . Additionally, most schools, regardless of whether they have water to row on, do ergometer testing (all out maximum performance tests), weight lifting, and long cardio workouts. A few colleges and universities send their fastest rowers to
2958-421: The three events, the NCAA champion is determined by the team with the higher placing in the I Eight event. At-large participants in the championships are selected by the NCAA Division I Women’s Rowing Committee. The following criteria are used in selecting teams and individual boats: Key The first women’s collegiate championship was held in 1980 at Oak Ridge, Tennessee . National champions were declared from
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#17328835923763016-467: The time difference between the first and sixth lightweight men's varsity 8 at the 2019 IRAs was only 1.7 seconds—less than half a length. Since the NCAA Rowing Championships does not have a lightweight event for women, a select number of these teams (e.g., University of Wisconsin ) are eligible to compete at IRAs. Olympic rowing introduced lightweight event categories for the first time at
3074-552: The varsity eight race. California won the first collegiate championship. Below is a list of Women’s National Collegiate varsity eight champions: (Source: Washington Crew Press Guide ) Prior to 1980, college boats entered the National Women’s Rowing Association National Championships (what is now the USRowing National Championships). Below is a list of NWRA open eights champions from 1971–79 (no eights prior to 1971). The top college finisher
3132-439: The varsity squad. At the 2012 IRA Steward's annual meeting it was voted to repeal the ban on freshmen competing as part of their varsity squad. In the league the term 'First Year Collegiate Rower' will now be used to describe Freshmen/Novice rowing. Rowing is one of the few collegiate sports where athletes practice year round and compete during both spring and fall. In addition many athletes train at various rowing clubs around
3190-537: The winners of the Pac-10 Championship , the Eastern Sprints , the IRA and the Harvard-Yale race to attend. It was a finals only event and other crews could attend if they paid their own way and there was room in the field. The winner received an expense paid trip to the Henley Royal Regatta as a prize. After 1996, however, the race was discontinued. Given Washington's return to the IRA in 1995 and
3248-435: The winning lightweight men's 8 at the 2015 to 2019 IRAs was faster than the finals time for all but 6 to 12 heavyweights 8s. There are races for both men's and women's lightweight rowing. However, many of the smaller colleges have limited sized programs and simply field open weight boats, which include rowers who would qualify as lightweights, and many larger Division I-A universities, cognizant of Title IX issues, have limited
3306-739: Was conducted in conjunction with the Kerr Cup on the Schuylkill River along historic Boathouse Row. The most recent championship in May 2024 was held on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, New Jersey . Four full CAA members currently sponsor women's rowing at the intercollegiate level—the University of Delaware, Drexel University, Monmouth University, and Northeastern University; they are joined by four associate members in Eastern Michigan University,
3364-480: Was held in 1980 at Oak Ridge, Tennessee . This race was open solely to collegiate rowing teams. In 1982 , the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) host the championship event. Since 1997, the NCAA has hosted an invitational rowing championship for women. Unlike the former women's collegiate championship, the NCAA does not have a championship race for women's lightweight rowing. In response,
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