RowingRelated

Our take on the rowing 2016 season, with championships looming It's hard to believe, but we are already nearly through another season of rowing at the collegiate level here stateside, and the competition is well and truly heating up. Here's our take on the season so far, with a view toward championship racing, just around the corner.

And they're off! (Photo: M. Davis) The 2015 NCAA Championships were arguably the most exciting to date, and featured a Division I finale that pitted the defending champs against an undefeated crew. Meanwhile, both Division II and Division III crowned new champions, while newcomers also made a lasting impression. Let's take a closer look.

UC Irvine launches for the final (Photo courtesy of A.J. Brooks) The UC Irvine men and Stanford women continued their recent run of success at WIRAs over the weekend, with the Anteaters taking first place in the men's varsity eight (just as they did in 2013), while the Cardinal swept all three eights events they entered. For both programs, however, it has also been a year of adjustments, as newly appointed head coach Derek Byrnes took the reins in Palo Alto last October, and UCI's  A.J. Brooks is in his first year as head coach. But you wouldn't know it from the margin of victory, in either case.

Washington hoists the Pac-12 varsity eight trophy, 2014 (Photo: B. Kitch) The 2015 IRA field looks very familiar, though the power struggle at the top may just yield different results this time around. The margins were slimmer last season for the Washington Huskies, but the Ten Eyck results were just the same. Can anyone stop the Huskies this spring?

Pac-12s 2014 (Photo: B. Kitch) Spring racing season is upon us. Yes, the ice is melting (finally), and crews are back on the water in gearing up for another great year. Before we kick things off in earnest at Crew Classic, however, we'd be remiss if we didn't share our thoughts on just how this year's NCAA Rowing field stacks up. Here are the first official RowingRelated NCAA Rankings for 2015.

The trophy table at IRAs (Photo: B. Kitch) It's another championship weekend of racing at the collegiate level in the U.S., with the best of the best in NCAA Rowing gathered in Indianapolis, and the top varsity men's crews on the water at Lake Mercer. With national titles on the line, and incumbents with very strong squads once again, the challengers will have their hands full trying to wrest the titles from the holders' grasp. But, when the wakes settle, we may see new champions crowned in the east and (Mid)west. IRA Crews to Watch The heats are in the books , and this year's top IRA crews will be very familiar from 2013—the strongest men's heavyweight varsity eights are Washington, California, Harvard, Brown, Northeastern, Princeton, and Yale (the top seven at last year's championships). This time, however, we may see some reshuffling of the order. California has been threatening all season, and so far the Huskies have fought them off in impressive fash...

This week's first video comes to us from Big Red, who are prepping for this weekend's showdown in Worcester to determine the fastest crews in the East. Cornell enters the racing as the fifth-ranked varsity eight in a field that has seen some changes over the last 12 months, with Charley Butt taking the helm at Harvard (No. 2) following the loss of Harry Parker, and Yale making good on early-season potential to claim a No. 1 seed. The top of the field is likely to be very tightly packed, with Brown and Princeton not far off the top two crews—will we see a new heavyweight champion crowned on Lake Quinsigamond?

This week's double-feature comes to us from the Charles River in Boston, where the Harvard men's varsity eight held off Princeton in new head coach Charley Butt's first home race to win the Compton Cup by roughly half a length. Harvard took the look early, but Princeton held on very well, and going into the final 500 meters, the Tigers made a great charge for the line and closed the gap on the Crimson—especially impressive given the challenging conditions and being on the road.

This year's running of Crew Classic in San Diego was marked, more than anything, by large margins in the marquee races, and saw defending champions on the men's and women's sides take titles once again on Mission Bay. While we didn't post picks and predictions for San Diego this year, it was a good measuring stick for our preseason rankings. And, while there were a few surprises, in most cases the results confirmed our suspicions. At the collegiate level, arguably the most impressive performances of the regatta came from the California men and the Washington women—while UW didn't manage to wrestle the Jessop-Whittier Cup from USC's vise-grip, the Huskies and Golden Bears showed off their depth as well as excellent top-end speed over the course of the two-day regatta. The Cal men's varsity eight (RR preseason No. 1) absolutely dominated the Copley Cup final, winning by roughly eight seconds over Northeastern ( RR No. 5), who finished eight seconds ahea...

This week's video comes to us from Portland, and is a very nicely put together general introduction to the sport of rowing, as well as to Rose City Rowing Club . A mixture of on-the-water training footage and interviews with athletes and coaches, it paints an accurate picture not just of the experience of rowing in Portland, but also the reasons why all of us get up early in the morning, and row until our hands bleed. Among those interviewed is Stanford frosh phenom Ruth Narode , who finished second after an epic sprint in the junior women's open event at Crash-Bs in 2012 , and who is coming off a gold-medal performance at U23 worlds with the U.S. women's eight last summer in Austria. Narode was awarded our prestigious RoRy for Female Athlete of the Year at the junior level in 2012. Thanks very much to Chris for sending along the video! Have a submission for 'Video Of The Week?' Shoot us an email at rowingrelated [at] gmail [dot] com, send us your suggestions v...

This week's video comes to us from Redwood Shores, California, where the Stanford men's rowing squad has been busy building 'saw wood city' this winter. The video follows head coach Craig Amerkahnian through a training session, and the results are a series of gems—just be sure to credit Craig if you're going to use any of the above. Stanford is coming off an early season romp at the Davis Invitational Regatta in the Port of Sacramento, where they swept all events against UC Davis and Santa Clara. The Cardinal men's varsity eight is certainly not short of power, with Austin Hack back for his senior season, freshman phenom Ryan O'Rourke (who holds the American junior record for 500m at 1:17, and who won the men's junior event at the 2013 Crash-B Sprints with a 6:02.4), and 2013 U23 bronze medalist Kaess Smit , among others. Have a submission for 'Video Of The Week?' Shoot us an email at rowingrelated [at] gmail [dot] com, send us your sugges...

We're on to the next level of the 2013 RoRys, and there's a great deal to celebrate from the world of intercollegiate rowing this season. It was a season characterized by dynasties further adding to their incredible legacies, as well as of newcomers making a name for themselves at the highest level. And so, after much deliberation, and without further ado, the winners of the 2013 RoRys at the intercollegiate level are... RoRys for Programs of the year University of Washington Men Despite losing one of the best coaches in the collegiate ranks—newly appointed USRowing men's coach Luke McGee—in the middle of the season, the Huskies of Washington showed that they were by no means ready to loosen their vise-grip on the Ten Eyck Trophy. Head coach Mike Callahan and assistant coach Rick Gherst not only stayed the course and pushed their athletes to achieve at the highest level, but also they did it while training new Husky coaches, who stepped up in the absence of McGee. Hav...

Varsity Eights As USRowing quipped , it was a good day to be a Husky in Sacramento—especially a Washington Husky. Not that we'd ever be the types to say we told you so, but our picks for the men's varsity eight turned out as we'd expected, with Washington capping off another undefeated season with a third-straight IRA title. Not far off the pace were the early leaders, Harvard —smooth and composed, but perhaps without the level of horsepower that their West Coast rivals brought to the table. Brown also had an outstanding regatta, as Paul Cooke and new assistant coach Graham Willoughby's crews made the podium in all three eights events—while the varsity may have gotten off to a slow start compared to the rest of the field, their closing speed saw them overtake Northeastern in the final 250m to claim the bronze.

111th IRA Regatta begins tomorrow (Photo: B. Kitch) The 2013 IRA National Championship Regatta is set to kick off tomorrow morning, bright and early on the West Coast in Sacramento—temperatures (and anxiety levels) are high, with national titles and (perhaps even more importantly) bragging rights on the line. Here is our take on just what'll happen this weekend, when oars meet water. Heavyweights The 'Top Dawg' at this regatta is Washington , and for very good reason. So far this season, they haven't done anything to suggest that they've loosened their vise-grip on men's varsity rowing, with the possible exception of the varsity fours race at Pac-12s. So, we're taking the Washington Huskies to win the men's varsity eight again this year. Harvard  is our pick for second place, and enter the regatta after an undefeated season and a convincing win at Sprints—the Crimson may be the only ones who can throw down a challenge to Washington this weekend. R...

Head coach Craig Amerkhanian addresses his team after the race (Photo: B. Kitch) For the Stanford men's rowing team, it was a (wait for it) 'red letter day' at Redwood Shores last Saturday, as the varsity eight, stroked by former junior world champion Austin Hack , showed tremendous speed against their rival Cal , nearly setting a new course record on the way to victory. The Stanford crew was just 0.7 seconds off the 5:30.5 set by Washington's IRA champion varsity eight last year, and Cal also posted their fastest time in recent memory at Redwood Shores, breaking 5:33 in a losing effort. The Stanford lightweight women's varsity crossing 1250m (Photo: B. Kitch) Earlier in the morning, Al Acosta's Stanford lightweight women's varsity eight took on a heavyweight third varsity eight from Cal, winning convincingly in a time of 6:37.9 to Cal's 6:48.2. The Cardinal have won three straight IRA titles, and are looking to be in contention for yet ano...

This week's video comes from Redwood Shores, where California took on Stanford in the annual dual in honor of Jill Costello . The rowing was, as usual, of a very high quality, and there were several very closely contested races and very fast times posted over the course of the day. The upset of the event came in the men's varsity eight, where No. 7 Stanford went toe-to-toe with No. 3 Cal. This time, the Cardinal got the better of their Bay Area rival, and came very close to setting a new course record in the process, crossing the line in 5:31.2 (just 0.7 seconds off the mark set by Washington last year). On the women's side, No. 2 Cal proved the faster squad, coming from behind to win the second varsity eight race, and taking the varsity eight contest in record time (6:14.7—you can watch them come across the finish line here ). The Stanford lightweight women were also in action, taking on a heavyweight crew from Cal, and Stanford showed that they will once again be in...

Attention, Go! (Photo: B. Kitch) All of intercollegiate rowing's No. 1 teams are set to be in action this weekend*, with the top-ranked Washington  men at Redwood Shores to take on Stanford (details here ), NCAA  No. 1 USC taking on No. 2 Cal and No. 9 Stanford at the Lake Natoma Invitational (follow @NatomaInvite on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend), SIRAs taking over Oak Ridge, TN (follow @oakridgerowing for live results) and pitting ACRA men's No. 1 Virginia against rivals The George Washington University (last year's SIRAs champ), Jacksonville, FIT, Temple, Delaware, and others, while women's ACRA no. 1 Purdue will take on Crew Classic champions Central Oklahoma, Jacksonville, FIT & more. Last, but certainly not least, the No. 1 Stanford women's lightweights will take on Harvard-Radcliffe, while the No. 1 Harvard men's lightweights are set to do do battle with Navy (though these events may be postponed due to ongoing police activ...

1. California  Cal is our favorite to win the NCAA team championship in 2013. Their top-end talent in the varsity eight and team depth we expect will be too great for any other team in the country to handle.  Dave O'Neill  is a very good coach and has a clear understanding of what it takes to construct and manage a championship level team. Every year they are in the hunt, but they have not won since they won back to back team titles in 2005 and 2006. This year's team will be led by  Kara Kohler  who is back for her junior year after taking the 2012 season off to win an Olympic bronze medal in the W4x for the U.S. The Bears will also feature top international athletes  Papa Hipango  from New Zealand,  Rosie Popa  from Australia (though she has American citizenship and has raced at the U23 world championships for the U.S.), German junior national team member  Charlotte Siering , and Norwegian junior national teamer  Ingvild Ronning...

#leaveyourlegacy from Hooded Trees on Vimeo . The 2012 Olympic Games are now just over 18 days away, and the above video, which comes to us from Stanford University, gets at just what it means strive, unrelentingly, for greatness. The message, delivered by Ray Lewis to the Stanford men's basketball team prior to a game last season, applies not only to sport, but to life, and the video makes that clear. Add to this some footage of the Stanford men's rowing team training on San Francisco Bay, and you've got a winner for RR 'Video of the Week,' as we build toward London. It's a video that should be watched more than once–like the athletes and artists showcased in the piece, the creators of this short film understand that moments of pure joy; excellence; greatness; do not arise out of nothing, but are instead the beautiful results of countless hours of wholly dedicated time, and effort. These moments, then, transcend their specific contexts and tap into some...

The 2012 edition of the IRA Regatta begins tomorrow morning, and the look of the field has changed since the beginning of the year, though the front runners in our minds, Harvard , Washington , and Brown , had fantastic outings at the Head Of The Charles (finishing first, third, and fifth, respectively, with only a USRowing national team crew and a Deutscher Ruderverband eight forming the interstices). Our pick following last year's IRA, as well as in January, was Harvard, but the overwhelming feeling in the rowing community (and, more specifically, our readership) shows that Washington is the favorite, and the Huskies will enter as the No. 1 team in all three eights. The incredible race for the Sprints title in the varsity eight between Harvard and Brown saw Harvard's bid for an undefeated season come to an end, and, while the Crimson were unbeaten prior to that race, they have not pushed out the margins in any of their races this season–Washington, by contrast, has won ever...