Across this weekend and last, the vast majority of division one programmes have started their seasons. After this weekend 75% of the preseason top ten across both men’s and women’s rowing will remain to take their first official strokes – and this weekend will start their seasons with a bang.
Coaches Polls
On Friday morning, just before last weekend’s racing, the IRCA released their Coaches Preseason poll. #1 California are favoured to three-peat after being ranked number one as they have been in every poll since mid-April 2022. Notable risers include #2 Princeton who are expected to build on their bronze medal performance building around their young Windsor-educated core of the Boy’s School’s Marcus Chute and old Etonian Theo Bell who return alongside seven athletes from last year’s Varsity Eight. #5 Harvard are tipped to rebound while #9 Syracuse are expected to revert to the mean after their historic 2023 season.
By contrast, the women’s poll, #8 Syracuse are the largest risers after their strong performances across the board on the Cooper River. While #10 Penn fell despite great results in the first eight, as their second eight and first four failed to match that expectation. Further down the poll, SMU fell out of the top 20 and #16 Tennessee rose one spot based on the negative results that came out from the SMU-Texas-Oklahoma scrimmage, exacerbating the loss of Kim Cupini after her move from Dallas to the Volunteers last summer, taking many of her top athletes with her.
Week Two Preview
The highlight of the weekend on the women’s side will likely be in Columbus, Ohio as #9 Michigan and #12 Ohio State will each race #11 Virginia and #15 Duke. This is a staple event at the start of the season and will provide easy comparison between the biggest hitters in the Big Ten and ACC early in the year.
There are two big invitational events taking place as the Sunshine State Invitational races in Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida. Meanwhile, #10 Penn and #13 Rutgers are set to play starring roles in the Doc Hosea Invitational on the Cooper River Lake.
In the Dualling scene, #1 Stanford will begin their national championship defence in Los Angeles as they race #17 USC. The biggest clash on the east coast is for the XXX Cup as #3 Princeton and #6 Brown will both look to lay down the gauntlet for their Ivy League rivals.
On the men’s side the key duals to look out for are #10 Dartmouth travelling to #19 Columbia and #2 Princeton playing host to #17 Drexel, #18 Georgetown and #23 Temple. However, all eyes in the sport will be heading down south to Sarasota, Florida for the IRA Men’s Invitational. Six of the top eight teams will race at the 2017 World Championship course, namely #3 Washington, #4 Yale, #5 Harvard, #6 Northeastern, #7 Brown and #8 Stanford. This calibre of field is normally reserved for June as crews unite from across the country to face off this weekend. Twelve months ago Yale were comfortable in their victory over Washington at a smaller version of this event but were overturned by the IRAs in June. Success this weekend will not ensure glory when it matters most, but the victors will be able to set the conversation for the two months of the regular season.
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