A pioneer of collegiate women’s rowing, Kevin Sauer has been one of the sport’s truly nice guys, running his program with family values that endeared him to his team and many others. Kevin Sauer, the only varsity coach the University of Virginia women have ever known, announced his retirement in May. One of the best-liked and most successful coaches in rowing, Sauer coached the Cavaliers for 29 years, leading the club program into the NCAA when Virginia elevated women’s rowing to varsity status in 1995. Under Sauer, Virginia won the NCAA Division I national championship in 2010 and 2012 and tr ..read more

Dad Vails: The Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta returns to the Cooper River for 2024, running Friday, May 10th through Saturday, May 11. Vails, billed as the largest collegiate regatta in America, features 291 crews from 69 universities across the U.S. and Canada. The #16 Drexel men will look to defend their team title from 2023, when they won the V8+, 2V8+, and Novice 8+. #18 LaSalle will be focused on taking down the Dragons, after their two varsity eights have traded off over three previous head to head races this season, with two wins going to the Exploreres and the most recent contest going in ..read more

On May 6th, Wisconsin women’s head coach Vicky Optiz spoke with the media at Porter Boathouse to recap the team’s recent racing at Opening Day/ Windermere Cup and to preview the upcoming Big Ten Championships, hosted by UW on nearby Devil’s Lake in Baraboo, WI. Opitz said the trip to Seattle was “awesome” and she was particularly excited by the opportunity to travel and race with the Wisconsin men’s team. She explained, “We have so few regattas where we get to go with the men’s team…so to be there as one big badger family was tremendous.” Optiz pointed to the varsity four and and second varsit ..read more

The streaming service Overnght aims to become the one place for all live rowing video streams. After the April announcement that all the Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s affiliated regattas would be streamed on Overnght, USRowing announced that all USRowing-owned regattas, including youth regionals and nationals, also will be shown on Overnght. “A few sports are not getting the attention they deserve,” said Overnght founder Kevin McReynolds, a former UCLA student-athlete. “Olympic sports in particular haven’t gotten the love they deserve.” Overnght charges $9.99 per month or $95 per year t ..read more

With the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games just over two months away, most of the crews who will be competing have already qualified their boats through the World Rowing Championships, or the various continental qualification regattas. The last chance for remaining crews to qualify takes place at the 2024 World Rowing Final Olympic & Paralympic Qualification Regatta (FOPQR) in Lucerne, Switzerland from 19-21 May.   Also dubbed the ‘Last Chance Regatta’, this final opportunity to qualify will see 183 crews competing for the remaining 37 spots (30 Olympic and seven Paral ..read more

The Week 8 Pocock CRCA Coaches Poll saw few changes in the Division I category, as Texas retains the top spot.  #6 Brown improved one place, replacing Yale, based on the strength of their performance of Women’s Sprints. Central Oklahoma is now the top-ranked team in the DII poll while Weslyan jumped from fourth to second in the DIII poll after a strong weekend at the New England Championships. Division I Rank Team Points Previous Ranking 1 University of Texas 2614 1 2 Stanford University 2531 2 3 Princeton University 2308 3 4 University of California, Berkeley 2161 4 5 U ..read more

Men’s ACRA Varsity Eight Rank Team (First Place Votes) Points 1 University of Virginia (7) 105 2 University of Notre Dame (2) 99 T – 3 University of California, Los Angeles (2) 84 T – 3 University of Minnesota 84 5 Rutgers University 59 6 University of Michigan 55 7 Orange Coast College 39 8 George Washington University 36 9 Purdue University 28 10 Bucknell University 15 Other: Washington State (1) Men’s ACRA Freshman/Novice Eight Rank Team (First Place Votes) Points 1 Purdue University (7) 86 2 Orange Coast Colleg ..read more

The auctioning of an historic rowing gold medal prompts a reflection on what matters—the token or the memory? An email brought to my attention the following notice: “1936 Berlin Olympic Gold Medal Won by ‘Boys in the Boat’ Rower John White to be Auctioned.” The sender attached the full news item and added, “My friend and I are saddened by this news.” My first response was also to feel sad. Is the almighty buck the bottom line for everything? This news sat with me for a while as I decided what I wanted to say about it. By coincidence, at about the same time I received this, the internet reposte ..read more

The junior racing season kicked into high gear with the first events of the USRowing Youth series taking place this past weekend. On the collegiate side, the Princeton heavyweight men completed an undefeated regular season in both the first and second varsity eights, while the Washington men and women came away with wins at Opening Day. USRowing Southwest and Central Youth Championships: The USRowing Youth Series kicked off in Sacramento and Oklahoma City this past weekend with the Southwest and Central Youth Championships. Qualifying crews in each of 41 events will advance to the USRowing You ..read more

PRINCETON – The No. 1 Princeton Men’s Heavyweight Rowing Team finished off an undefeated regular season by defeating the No. 6 Brown Bears on Lake Carnegie on Saturday morning. The first Princeton heavyweight rowing race took place in 1872 as the Tigers finished fourth at the National Amateur Regatta. Today, the 152-year program saw a first. With today’s 2.6-second victory to retain the Content Cup, the 1V (5:34.8) earned the program’s fifth undefeated regular season (1881, 1997, 1999, 2006 and 2024). It’s the first undefeated regular season for the Tigers since 2006! https://t.co/xoco61HpFs ..read more