Before the Line: April 29

BY LUKE REYNOLDS
PHOTOS BY ED MORAN, LISA WORTHY, SPORTGRAPHICS

Tune-up is the name of the game this weekend in the rowing world.

Crews across the country are hitting racecourses for duals, small regattas, and other tune-ups in preparation for conference championships and, ultimately, IRA’s, NCAA’s, and ACRA’s.

The University of Tulsa will host the Lawless Cup against Creighton and the University of Oklahoma on Saturday.

“We have had a few weeks at home since we raced at the Sunshine State Invitational in Sarasota, Fla., which has allowed us time to work on our lineups in terms of consistency, speed and technique,” Interim Head Coach Olivia Staff said.

“We are looking forward to hosting the University of Oklahoma and Creighton University in Catoosa this weekend for our first home race of the season as well as having our Senior Day. It will be a racing weekend with close competition that will help set us up for what we want to do at conference.”

Unfortunately for some crews, Covid and weather havve caused hiccups. Cal’s dual against Stanford, (aka the Big Row) was cancelled due to the schools’ Covid protocols, and several other crews—including Alabama, and Syracuse—have been forced to pull out of events due to Covid as well. The University of Iowa had to cancel their regatta at Lake McBride due to weather but will instead scrimmage on the Iowa River.

It’s a bummer for the athletes but after the triumph of last year’s IRA, there’s good reason to stay optimistic and confident—particularly with schools being proactive early to ensure athlete-health—that champ season will go on undeterred.

Before that, though, let’s take a second to address what’s going on and where.

What’s the difference between IRA’s, NCAA’s, and ACRA’s?

IRA’s— The Intercollegiate Rowing Association is the association that runs the IRA National Championships as well the Men’s and Women’s Eastern Sprints regattas.

According to its website the IRA, brings together institutions of higher education that compete at the highest levels of intercollegiate rowing in the United States.

“The IRA seeks, to organize, manage, and promote the sport of intercollegiate rowing, and to annually hold a postseason intercollegiate national rowing championship called the Intercollegiate Rowing Association,” reads the organization’s website.

In addition to the regattas it hosts, the IRA also publishes weekly coach’s polls. The coaching association that is associated with the IRA is the IRCA which stands for Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association.

TLDR: IRA stands for Intercollegiate Rowing Association. It hosts a national championship every year as well as the men’s and women’s Eastern Sprints regattas. Crews that qualify to compete in the event include select men’s and lightweight crews as well as women’s lightweight crews.

When: June 3-6
Where: Lake Mercer, West Windsor, New Jersey
Current rankings: Can be viewed here.

NCAA’s— The NCAA is a little more straightforward. Its national championship hosts women’s open weight crews that are sponsored by their institutions’ athletic departments.

The first NCAA Women’s Rowing National Championship was held on Lake Natoma in 1997. (Notable though, that the first women’s collegiate championship was held in 1980 at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It was not affiliated with the NCAA.)

To qualify for the championship regatta crews can either win their conference points championship—except for the Ivy League whose automatic qualifier goes to the varsity eight winner—or vie for one of the 11 at-large spots. The eleven rowing conferences are Pac-12, Big 12, Ivy League, Big Ten, ACC, Atlantic 10, AAC, Colonial, Patriot, League, West Coast, and the MAAC. Brown currently holds the most team titles at seven. The most recent winner of the event is the University of Texas.

When: May 27-29
Where: Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida
Current rankings: Can be viewed here.

NCAA Conference Champs Dates and Locations:

• Pac-12 – May 15, Dexter Lake, Oregon
• Big 12 – May 15, Decker Lake, Austin, Texas
• Ivy League – May 15, Cooper River, Pennsauken, New Jersey
• Big Ten – May 15, Indianapolis Rowing Center, Indianapolis, Indiana
• ACC – May 13-14, Lake Hartwell, Hartwell, South Carolina
• Atlantic 10 – May 14 – Cooper River, Pennsauken, New Jersey
• AAC – May 14-15, Melton Hill Lake, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
• Colonial – May 15, Cooper River, Pennsauken, New Jersey
• Patriot League – May 13, Cooper River, Pennsauken, New Jersey
• West Coast – May 14, Lake Natoma, Sacramento, California
• MAAC – May 15 , Cooper River, Pennsauken, New Jersey

ACRA’s— The American Collegiate Rowing Association is the organization that hosts the yearly ACRA National Championship. Its membership is made up of university and college rowing teams (both men and women) that are not sponsored by an institution’s athletic department as defined by the NCAA according to ACRA’s bylaws. The ACRA National Championship has a wide variety of events compared to NCAA’s and IRA’s including sculling events, men’s and women’s events, and a mixed adaptive event.

When: May 20-22
Where: Melton Hill Lake, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

All that said, here are a few other events taking place this weekend:

• Brentwood International Regatta
• Indianapolis Junior Sprints
• 27th Annual Grand Rapids High School Rowing Invitational
• Garden State Scholastic Championships
• New England Rowing Championships (NERC)
• Al Urquia Regatta
• Charlie Butt Regatta
• Gifford Pinchot Sprint Regatta
• Cooper Cup
• Buffalo River Sprints
• Women’s Sprints
• Open Ocean Regatta
• Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference Championship
• 3rd Annual Plains Regional Regatta
• Longhorn Invitational

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