2015 ACRA Season Preview: The RR Top Five

The UCSB men on the Crew Classic podium, 2013 (Photo: B. Kitch)
Without a doubt, the top-end speed in men's club rowing has been improving over the past few years, not least because of the development of the ACRA league. What will 2015 hold? Here are our picks for the long haul.

1. University of Virginia
Frank Biller has built a perennial contender at UVa, and 2015 looks good for the Cavaliers so far. While UVa fell just short of our preseason no. 3 Grand Valley State at the Charles, what was a young group in 2014 is already starting to mature nicely, and Biller is excited to see the results of several tweaks to the training plan coming to fruition this spring. And, in case there wasn't already enough motivation to train for the long haul, the Cavs are headed back to Henley Royal Regatta again this summer. Virginia bested rivals Michigan last weekend at the Murphy Cup, and given the team's depth, we suspect that they may just have the combination to get it done this spring.

2. University of Michigan
The Wolverines are coming in hot after a very solid fall season that saw them win the Head Of The Charles in the men's collegiate eight, and while they're missing significant experience from their varsity eight from a year ago, the depth of the squad has Michigan on track for another banner year. Much like their counterparts at the University of Washington, it's about guys stepping up and filling new roles. Having spoken with head coach Gregg Hartsuff about his 2015 squad for the next issue of ROWING Magazine, I can tell you he's pleased with how his guys are responding to the challenge.

3. Grand Valley State
GVSU has a solid combination of experience and horsepower on board this year, with Orange Coast College alum Austin Gentry in the mix (and likely also close to the 6:00 mark for 2,000m). The Lakers scored a strong result at the Charles, finishing third overall and got a taste of varsity competition this weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic, where they entered in the Copley Cup this year, facing off against the likes of California, Navy, and Stanford. It seems like head coach John Bancheri wants to challenge this group early—with a view toward big results in May.

The top three might be trading punches all season, and we suspect that there will be different winners (or highest-place club finishers) at Dad Vails and ACRAs this year. It's going to be very interesting to watch, and it'll depend on how each program prioritizes particular races and training peaks over the course of the next two months. Our gut feeling is that UVa and Michigan might have more speed to gain come May, with GVSU hot on their heels in the ACRA final.

4. UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos have been building a solid program over the past few seasons, and the results show it, including their outstanding come-from-behind win at Crew Classic last weekend. While they've climbed atop the club rowing field on the West Coast much of the time, the true test will come against the 'Beasts from the [Midwest and] East.' Could this be the year that UCSB lands a varsity eight on the podium at ACRAs?

5. Boston College
The Golden Eagles posted a great result a the Head Of The Charles, edging Trinity in the men's collegiate eight and finishing eighth overall. The sophomore class is talented, but it will be interesting to see how everything plays out when BC races more experienced lineups from Delaware and Bucknell this spring. Still, last year's varsity eight wasn't far off the pace, and looking at their season schedule, the group is likely to mature quickly racing high-quality competition.

Also on the radar are UC Irvine under head coach (and four-time IRA champion at Washington) AJ Brooks, after a solid fourth-place finish in the Cal Cup at Crew Classic (second among club programs behind UC Santa Barbara, and neck and neck with a resurgent Santa Clara men's varsity eight).

Let the games begin! We will update our rankings throughout the season. Check the new RR Rankings page to see current and historical rankings, updated as they become available.

-RR

Popular posts from this blog

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States.
Read more

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b
Read more

RR Interview: Nick Trojan's New Feature on Yale Men's Rowing

Image
Nick Trojan's latest feature documentary is twice as long as his previous work—but leaves you wanting more, just the same.  There’s a new feature in Nick Trojan’s series, taking an inside look at top-tier college rowing programs in the US. This time, Trojan focused his project on Yale and the legendary coach Steve Gladstone, blending outstanding camerawork with one of rowing’s most compelling stories.  Having uploaded the video to YouTube only two weeks ago, it’s already approaching 70k views. And for good reason.  RR sat down recently to talk through it all with Trojan in an exclusive interview, from origins to development and finally a finished product—as well as what might come next. Here’s what we learned. Navigating shifting waters Elite rower turned filmmaker Nick Trojan’s new feature, titled simply, “Yale Men’s Rowing,” was years in the making.  “The initial idea was to do the same kind of rinse-and-repeat that we had done with Harvard and Cal,” Trojan says, “but I think wha
Read more

Video Of The Week: Holland Beker 2013

This week's video comes to us from the Bosbaan, where the 2013 Holland Beker saw truly elite, international competition over the weekend. Perhaps the most outstanding racing came in the women's single, where the A Final closely mirrored a world championship or Olympic final in recent years—the lineup included two-time Olympic champ Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, Kim Crow of Australia, New Zealand's Emma Twigg , reigning Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, another two-time Olympic champion (albeit in the women's eight) in Eleanor Logan , and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist (also in the eight) Chantal Achterberg of Holland. As it turned out, the final was a wire-to-wire victory for Kim Crow, who looks to be on top form and may be the athlete to beat in this event for the foreseeable future, holding off both Karsten and Twigg in the closing stretch, with Knapkova finishing fourth. Elle Logan had another solid race in a great field, finishing just over
Read more

Best Rowing Drills: 5 Favorites of Olympic Champion Esther Lofgren

Image
Lofgren training in the single (Photo courtesy of Esther Lofgren) Olympic gold medalist Esther Lofgren is no stranger to success on the water. In addition to her podium-topping performance with the U.S. women's eight in London, Lofgren also won two world titles (2010, 2011), with her first international medal—a bronze—coming in the women's straight four in 2006. Here, Lofgren shares some insight into the drills that have helped her progress technically along the way.
Read more