Fall 2014 Review: Who's Ahead in the Collegiate Ranks as Winter Training Begins?

Early morning at Conibear Shellhouse (Photo: B. Kitch)
The 2014-2015 season is already shaping up to be every bit as interesting as last year, and we can't help but be excited about all that's to come. So, just because we all need something to read over the Thanksgiving holiday, we're kicking off the rowing 'hot stove' league with a look back at the fall, and the teams that made an impression heading into winter. Disclaimer: This contains opinions, and this is in large part based on fall results, which can be tricky to interpret, or downright misleading, depending on how coaches and programs approach the longer distance racing, and which teams show up at what races. Let's take a look, shall we?

Heavyweight Women
The Virginia Cavaliers are coming off their fourth straight Head Of The Charles victory as fastest collegiate eight, and have another talented roster, including Sam Casto (who just pulled a big erg at East Coast Fall Speed Order, and finished in the top 10 in the single). The Ohio State program is always a threat under the guidance of Andy Teitelbaum, and is coming off their second straight NCAA title, while Stanford claimed the Pac-12 crown last season en route to a top-five finish at NCAAs—however, both of these teams will be short some of their top talent this year, with athletes taking time away from campus to train for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. John and Phoebe Murphys' Brown program finished very high up in the ranks last year (third overall just two points behind Cal) and they have a lot of returners for the 2014-2015 campaign—and this makes the Bears our early season favorite to win it all in 2015, having topped the Cavaliers at the Chase (though Virginia did field three of the top seven crews on Lake Carnegie). Princeton finished sixth last year, and will be another crew to watch, rounding out the RR top five heading into winter training. 

Further crews to watch will be Cal (can the Golden Bears make a smooth transition following the departure of Dave O'Neill for Texas and continue their winning ways?), Washington (having graduated a lot of talent in 2014), and possibly Michigan (eighth overall last season, finished fifth and second among U.S. universities at the Head Of The Charles).

The ACRA women's field has been dominated by Grand Valley over the past several seasons, and we don't see any reason for that to change in 2015. Look for UCSB to continue to make strides out west, while Purdue will likely continue to be a factor come spring.

Heavyweight Men
The Washington Huskies have been without peer for the last four years, from the varsity eight to the Ten Eyck, and there seems little reason to doubt that this team can continue to have that kind of success again this season. The Big Purple Machine is running on all cylinders, and had another strong result at the Head Of The Charles this year, finishing fifth overall just ahead of the French national team. They followed this up by dominating the Head of the Lake once again, and looking up and down the roster, this squad certainly has the potential to continue the UW legacy of success. Not far behind UW at IRAs last year, and also returning a lot of talent are the Golden Bears, and their Charles results showed that—Cal finished just back of France in seventh place, having taken second place overall in the Ten Eyck race last spring.

The Harvard varsity eight turned in another stellar performance on home water, edging a very strong U.S. men's eight for third place, and taking the top intercollegiate spot on the Charles this year. The Crimson will be strong again, but last year stumbled at the IRA, where they failed to earn a medal (though, to be fair, hardware was hard to come by for anyone other than Brown, Cal, and Washington) and saw only two of their crews make the grand final—the varsity eight (fifth), and the frosh eight (fourth)—with their second and third varsity eights landing in the middle of the third final in their respective events. Still, with a solid 2014-2015 roster that features a great deal of international talent, Harvard will be a force to be reckoned with. Brown is always a deep squad, and Paul Cooke's program consistently produces results when it matters most—of the East Coast contingent, Brown may be the best bet to take on the heavy hitters from the West. Yale finished in the medal final last year (as we predicted), but this year they may just have the talent to out-duel their arch rivals and move up the national ranks, and posted a very strong result in the varsity eight at the Princeton Chase (11 seconds back of the Tigers for second place). Boston University enjoyed some very solid results again in the fall, but it still remains to be seen whether the Terriers can translate that early season speed to spring victories, while Princeton wasn't far off a fantastic year last season, finishing in the Grand Final in the varsity, second varsity, and third varsity eights, and scoring the only medal (a silver in the 2V8) that wasn't won by Bears or Huskies. 

At the ACRA level, it's going to be very difficult for anyone to compete with Michigan in 2015. The Wolverines just won the Charles, having nearly pulled off the Dad Vail/ECAC double-victory last spring, which they followed up with another ACRA varsity eight and men's team points victory. As has become the norm, the teams trying to chase down the Wolverines will be Virginia and Grand Valley, while UCSB and Bucknell will be looking to edge one of the top three off the podium.

Lightweight Women
This year will see Stanford adjusting to a new coach, but as Radcliffe showed last season, it is more than possible to make a title run under new management. Lou Berl's Radcliffe program capped off an outstanding season in 2014 with a comeback victory over the Cardinal at IRAs, and the Black and White have gotten off to a strong start this season, finishing second at the Charles behind a Dutch international crew (Minerva) and well ahead of the rest of the intercollegiate lightweight field. Stanford, on the other hand, has had a bit of a slow start to their 2014-2015 season having only just hired their new head coach, Derek Byrnes (formerly of Oakland Strokes) roughly six weeks ago.

Wisconsin won the four in 2014, but, along with Bucknell and Boston University, it will be an uphill battle for the rest of the field to catch the two frontrunners in women's lightweight rowing next spring.

Lightweight Men
The Big Red of Cornell returned to their 2006-2008 form last spring, backing up their Sprints title at IRAs ahead of a highly volatile field. While it was Princeton who took the title in Boston (the Tigers seem to have a knack for getting it done on the Charles), Cornell did take a strong third place, five seconds back of the Tigers, and three seconds behind Harvard. Harvard has a very strong roster this year, with Chris and Michael Wales, Zander Bonorris (Marin alum and veteran), Matt Podlesak (in the U23 lightweight quad for U.S. in 2013, one of the last guys cut from the U23 straight four last year), and Jack Kelly (AUS) in the mix. We're looking at these three as our podium favorites again this year, likely with the Crimson and Big Red battling it out for supremacy, with Yale looking to make it interesting coming down the stretch.

-RR

Trending posts this month

"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

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

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? At Marin Rowing Association, Culture is Key

Image
Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s ...
Read more

So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now?

Image
Warwick rowers are all in again this year (Photo courtesy of Warwick Boat Club)  The phenomenon started four years ago with the Warwick Rowing men's squad. Then, the following year, the Warwick women's team joined the fray. Now, Newcastle University's men and women are back on the naked calendar train. So, the question is, have rowing and naked calendars become a thing? The above video features the 2014-2015 Warwick women's squad—the third edition of the calendar , and, from the looks of it, the raciest. However, perhaps not so racy as that of the 2014-2015 Warwick men (see below). But raciness aside, all four of these teams have chosen worthy charities and have gone "the full monty" to make sure that those causes have received considerable contributions. The Warwick women contribute to Macmillan Cancer Support —a cause for which Warwick reports it has donated some £5,000. The Warwick men? Sport Allies —a charity that combats homophobia in spor...
Read more

Winter Workouts: Why Do Rowers Fear the Erg?

Image
Op-Ed from the RowingRelated Editorial Staff Friend. Not foe. (Illustration: B. Kitch) I am really frustrated by our sport when it comes to the erg being viewed as a torture device rather than a helpful tool that people can enjoy. This negative mindset, which is extremely contagious, plagues the sport, preventing athletes from training to their potential and possibly serving as one of the reasons that careers in rowing, at every level, are often so short. When compared to other endurance sports, I have not encountered an equal level of disdain for such fundamental mental and physical endurance training. My main problem is that everywhere I turn in the rowing community, whether it's high school rowers, college athletes, or even national team hopefuls, I hear of people dreading the erg. I've never heard about a cross country runner 'dreading' a track workout. True, basketball and football players may dread running wind sprints or other such conditioning acti...
Read more