STORY BY CHIP DAVIS | PHOTO BY BARRY HOUCHIN
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Notre Dame’s men’s eight surprised the field with the fastest time in the morning time trial at the 2023 American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta, underway Friday, May 21, here in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Entering the regatta seeded ninth, Notre Dame covered the 1,750-meter time trial on Melton Lake in 5:09.7, 1.5 seconds ahead of top-ranked defending champion George Washington and 2.6 seconds ahead of third-ranked Michigan. Bucknell came into the weekend seeded seventh among collegiate club crews but was forced into the afternoon repechages after finishing outside the A/B semifinal-qualify top-eight. Bucknell, Purdue, Washington State, and Rhode Island all won their reps to advance to Saturday’s semis.
With 17 entries, the top women’s eights raced heats instead of a time trial Friday morning. Pre-regatta favorites Bowdoin Vanderbilt won their heats, as did UC Irvine—seeded only ninth coming into this national championship regatta. UC Santa Barbara, Vermont, Middlebury, and Purdue raced close to the heat winners, setting up tough semifinals on Saturday that will send at least one of them to the B final on Sunday.
America’s largest collegiate regatta continues Saturday with 54 races from 8 a.m. to 4:20 p.m., including doubles, pairs, and novice events.
