Michigan Men's Rowing ACRA National Champs
The Michigan Men's Rowing team just won their 6th straight ACRA National Championship. They also won the premier event, the Men's Varsity 8, for the first time in a few years.
For those of you who do not know much or anything about rowing, Michigan's men's team used to be able to compete as a club program at the IRA regatta, which is the national championship for varsity programs. Six years ago, the IRA decided not to let club teams compete because Michigan, UVA and few other clubs were often finishing in the top 10. The elite club programs began their own national championship 6 years ago, and Michigan has won every single championship since the regatta's inception. Michigan's men have also placed one rower on each of the last three Olympic teams.
Results are here http://www.americancollegiaterowing.com/Files/2013/2013%20ACRA%20SUN%20….
Go Blue!
Hail To The Victors!
The biggest issue is preferred admissions. If Michigan could get the athletes they want through the admissions process like other sports can, they would take a huge step forward. Scholarships aren't THAT big of a deal when you look at the demographics of rowing. Not saying they wouldn't help, but admissions is the most important.
Yes, good point. My bad on the reading comprehension.
Come on now. 2008-2013 National Champions and they're still only a varsity club? Dave, make them varsity ASAP. Add women's hockey along with it for title 9 rules.
Everyone wins. Who doesn't love hockey? Women's hockey could join the WCHA with Minny, Wis and ohio.
UM has had much faster crews in years past.. they didn't even medal at Vails in the V8 and the competition at IRA's in quite a step up from Vails, ECAC's, ARCA's, etc....
If Michigan had varsity status and had rosters with athletes from around the country and the world like this
http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mcrew-hw/2012-13/roster-fv
or this
http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-crew/mtt/wash-m-crew-mtt.html
they would be able to compete with the Olympic development level crews that the Ivies and Pac 12 schools put out on a regular basis. Also, it would be helpful if rowers didn't have to pay hundreds of dollars in dues and engage in fundraisers just to compete. As a former M rower, varsity status would be bittersweet because there is something special about the atmosphere at Michigan that would disappear, or change significantly, if they started recruiting and granted scholarships. With that said, I would still love to see it happen.
As for the Dad Vail regatta this year, they were the only crew in the final that was competing the next day at the ECAC championship and they vindicated themselves by beating two teams today at ACRA that beat them at Vails. Plus, Coach Hartsuff tailors his training plan to peak at ACRA, and he clearly did his job this year.
Finally, Michigan may have had faster crews in the past, but the level of competition at the club level is much stronger than it was 6 years ago. Thus, their streak is even more impressive because everyone else is getting faster by following Michigan's (and UVA's) blueprint for having a successful club program.
its not realistic to compare Washington and Harvard to teams like Michigan, Virginia, etc because of the way they are funded. I was still surprised to see them finish 4th at Vails... whether they were gonna race the next day or not. The Vails field was stronger in my opinion that ECAC's.
Not an excuse, but a possible explanation, is that they got a bad lane draw on a notoriously unfair course. UM and Virginia were side by side in lanes 1&2 and look how they finished at Vails compared to all other results this year.
has a dog leg bend at about 700 meters as you reach the Strawberry Mansion bridge. If the Vails were not in Philly with all of its rich rowing history this course would not be acceptable. You need a good cox to get through this stretch and not lose ground to other crews. I've rowed this course a lot in HS and college in 1X all the way up to 8+.
Also the IRAs "kicked" out clubs, not because they were "too good" and finishing in the top-10, but rather becuase some ADs (ahem, Rutgers...) decided to relegate their varsity men's programs to club programs because "clubs can still compete for a national title against varsity teams in men's rowing." The IRA wasn't fearful of the competition as much as they were about the possilbe implication of funding issues to member schools if clubs were allowed to compete at the top regatta.
Coaches were afraid their AD's would drop their programs b/c club teams could compete at the IRA. Had Michigan, Temple, Virginia etc not consistently taken it to the weaker eastern sprints schools, this probably wouldn't have been an issue.
...which is why it was nice to see them rebound and perform like they did today.
I tried rowing once for fun at a lake once with a group of friends.
Damnit do I have respect for rowers after that experience. I thought I was gonna die after that I was sore for about a week and a half.