Rutgers raced at the Kerr Cup for the last regular season race of the Season. 1V, 2V 3V & N8 all had strong competition between some Dad Vail and ACRA Competitors. With a strong head wind the teams were in store for some long races and rough conditions on the Schuylkill.

The Varsity made it through to the final from the morning heats. After a rough start and some choppy conditions in the first 500M the Varsity showed a lot of grit and boat speed to row back though the field to claim 3rd ahead of Michigan and Drexel. With a clean race the boat is confident to have the speed to keep up with the front runners.

The Freshman had some tough racing in some of the worst conditions of the day. Michigan brought their A game and was able to stay out in front of the freshman even though the Rutgers boat was charging in the last 500 meters. While getting 2nd in a tough field was encouraging about the speed of the boat the freshman are hungry to catch the Michigan crew by ACRA.

The 2V and 3V had tough morning races with the 3V getting eliminated by some very fast crews and the 2V making the Petite final. The 2V was able to put together a great afternoon race where they kept the boat ahead of GW and within a length of Delaware.

Now that the regular season is over the boys on the banks are buckling down for a few hard weeks of training before finals. Then it is off to ACRA for the National Championship!

UPSTREAM RED TEAM

The team travelled to the nations capital this weekend for the third running of the George Washington Invite. There was some great competition and great racing from all crews this weekend. This was a great test of speed against many ACRA rivals to see how the boats are shaping up while there is still time to work on thing before the championship season.

The Varsity had some great results on Saturday but had some issues for their Sunday race in the rougher water, unfortunate timing as this was against #1 ranked Virginia.

The 2V had a massive improvement against opponents they saw a few weeks ago and is showing some of the speed the coaches knew was in the boat. This crew is looking boat who can be very competitive towards the end of the season.

The 3V has been struggling to put together racing to the capacity they show during practices. A combination of some inexperience from novice rowers in a tough category for them and some other technical issues has been preventing these guys from getting the results they should be. This weekend was a big step in the right direction and showed that they should be competitive with the other ACRA 3Vs.

The Freshman 8 had the best weekend of the group. They went undefeated through the weekend, winning each race by open water or more. The crew is shaping up to have a great run at ACRAs later in the season.

Full Race Results can be found here: https://www.crewtimer.com/regatta/r14538

Next up the team travels to Philadelphia for the Kerr Cup against some ACRA teams and Dad Vail rivals.

UPSTREAM RED TEAM

Rutgers Traveled to long time rival Columbia's home race course at Overpeck Park to compete for the Collins Cup. Much improved conditions (compared to last year) lead to some fast racing and great competition between the two Varsity boats.

Both Rutgers boats fell to the Columbia rivals but improvements over last weeks racing were noted for both the Varsity and 2V. The Coaches are pleased with how the team raced and looks forward to applying the lessons in the coming weeks.

Full results can be found here https://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=B39DBBC5450BD19ECB32AA73A3B82BF7&cat=1

The other Rutgers boats had a intra-team racing practice back on the Raritan to try and fine tune lineups and improve race speed for the upcoming battle at the George Washington Invite.

Upstream Red Team

Rutgers Traveled to Shamokin Dam PA to kick off the racing season with ACRA Rivals Bucknell, Virginia and Michigan. Testing the teams early season speed against these strong rivals is a great way to either establish your place in the ranking or realize you have work to do before the end of the season.

This weekend was a mix of both those results. The Varsity 8 had a very strong showing all weekend. Beating Michigan and Bucknell and hanging on to the current #1 ranked Virginia was a great way to start the season. With a few weeks of sharpening up and race experience the coaches are confident we can be right there with them.

The Freshman 8 had a great showing this weekend and cut their teeth on a tough weekend where they won a race by lengths, had to fight from behind in rough conditions and won a race from behind in the last 150 meters! The highlight of the weekend was the win for this boat over Michigan by 0.18 seconds (2.5 feet for those who are counting). Great racing and a very encouraging result early from this heavily novice crew.

The 3V8 had stiff competition from last years 3V8 champion (Bucknell) and perennial podium finishers in the 3V8 Michigan and Virginia. With a crew who has a few novice rowers in it and is at a significant horsepower deficit to most 3V8s the Red Team was able to hang with the defending champs and other podium regulars though most of the race. With a few more weeks of training, race prep, and development of the higher rating parts of the race they are confident they will be in the hunt for hardware later in the season.

The comeback story of the weekend was the 2V and the 4V 8s. The 2V after having some disappointing results on Saturday rallied on Sunday to start to show some of the speed we hoped and knew they would find this season. Racing a very strong Michigan 2V to a closed water finish at the end of a long weekend showed the dedication and grit we knew was in the crew. A few more weeks of development and we are sure they will end up on the correct side of that race. 4V8 or more appropriately 2F8 (with an experienced coxswain and one experienced rower in the boat) had a tough time with some very rough conditions though the middle of their races on Saturday. On Sunday however these guys dug in and were able to beat a crew they had previously lost to and put down a very impressive race piece.

To put a cap on the weekend the coaches are "Happy" or as happy as coaches ever are!

The top crews get ready for a fast weekend with long time rivals Columbia, and the lower boats prepare for the next ACRA showdown at the George Washington Invite in 2 weeks.

UPSTREAM RED TEAM

Spring Break started off well with the Annual Spring Banquet. It was great to see many friends, family and alumni on campus to help kick off the spring racing season.

After a nice evening of comradery the boys got back to work in the shells. 52 Athletes stayed on campus for 10 workouts over the spring break. A great week of weather (as opposed to heavy rain from last years spring break) helped propel the oarsmen and coxswains to make huge strides. Both technically and physically the boats are starting to shape up for the racing season.

To cap off a very strong week of training four 8s traveled to Philadelphia on Saturday morning for a competitive workout with Temple University. The workout was run in two groups with the Varsity and 2V racing with Temples Varsity and 2V and the 3V and Freshman racing their counterparts in a second wave. The workout was very competitive for all crews with boats trading pieces back and forth the whole workout. The Novices were able to get their first sense of spring racing and get to experience the craziness that is the Schuylkill River on a Saturday morning.

With the first spring travel out of the way the team buckles down in the class room again this week as we prepare for an ACRA showdown this weekend with Bucknell, Michigan and Virginia.

Upstream Red Team

The Men of Rutgers Crew spend a beautiful Monday morning down at the boathouse moving and connecting pieces of the dock to allow the teams to capitalize on a great week of February weather and get back on the water! With the docks in the teams have been working hard on getting back into the swing of the boat and preparing for the quickly approaching season. While the weather has been beautiful the coaches are taking advantage and focusing on some technical items to reinforce good habits they hope last the whole season. 3 Varsity 8s and 2 Freshman 8s hit the water each morning and are moving along really nicely already. First race pieces of the spring season are this Saturday with a Freshman vs Varsity workout, the first chance for the Freshman to show their potential speed for this year. The Varsity group is maintain speeds equal too or greater than last years boats. All signs point to a great season ahead for the Scarlet Knights.

Our next milestone is Spring Break where the team will be training twice a day to try and find some added speed before the racing season gets underway. Spring Break is capped off by a scrimmage with Temple University on the Schuylkill in Philadelphia on March 22nd.

UPSTREAM RED TEAM

Forty Two Rowers and 7 Coxswains traveled to Tampa Florida for the 4th year in a row for the annual winter training trip. The team was able to practice twice a day and have meals in the University of South Florida Dining Hall. Practices were focused on low rating and high power workouts to start the week as well as very technically focused afternoon rows. The time early in the week was used to help remember how to row on the water and emphasize power and precision. Later in the week the pace increased and the heat was turned up on the canal with some 5 boats across seat racing to try and start determining boat lineups for the spring racing season. The team crammed 13 rows into 7 days and was able to make tremendous progress both technically and in boat speed. The coaches are excited for what this early season speed could lead to. The Men of Rutgers Crew are now back indoors for a few weeks while the Raritan thaws from the tremendously cold end of January. The team hopes to be back on the water in just a few short weeks gearing up for a quickly approaching racing season!

UPSTREAM RED TEAM

The Rutgers Crew capped off the fall season with a competitive workout with Bucknell at home on the Raritan. Bucknell travelled with 3 Varsity 8s and 2 Freshman/Novice 8s. The 3 Varsity 8s raced against the Rutgers 1V 2V and 3V between the turnpike bridge and Route 1. The 2 Bucknell Freshman boats raced against the 3 Rutgers Freshman 8s. All boats were competitive with the highlight being 2 Rutgers Freshman Boats beating all of the Bucknell boats on many of the pieces. Always exciting to have Freshman Boats going fast in the fall! The Varsity was able to keep their bow in front of the Bucknell Varsity for 5 of 7 pieces and the 2V & 3V were competitive with the Bucknell boats although Bucknell 2V may have had slightly more speed. Overall it was a breeze but bright and successful day for the Red Team!

The team now has 3 weeks on the water where they will mix lineups and compete in the famous "points system". Lineups are drawn each day, at random. For the workout the fastest boat gets 7, next boat receives 5 and slowest boat receives 3. After 3 weeks of random lineups the better boat movers will have more points. Bragging rights are on the line!

While the Varsity boats duel it out the Freshman will be taking a step back and using the last few weeks to try and cement in proper boat technique as well as working on intensity on the water. The Freshman class is showing good promise and the coaches look forward to a successful spring for the Frosh 8, if they continue on their current path. The Freshman groups is still about 30 oarsman and 3 coxswains, which is a great size group for this late in the Fall.

The Final water practice will be Saturday 11/23 where the freshman will test their boat speed against the Varsity boats with 6 8s across. Its is sure to be an exciting day!

The Rutgers Crew Spring Banquet Date has been set for this year. Make sure to mark your Calendars for Saturday March 15th at the Nielson Dinning Hall. More information and registration links will be released later in the year.

Looking forward to seeing many Alumni and Friends back on the Banks!

After a great start to the Fall rowing even 8s, Rutgers got into a Varsity 8 lineup, 2 Varsity 4s made up of the 2V8 and a 3V8. Personnel changed some day to day in the various line ups as the coaches evaluated the oarsmen and coxswains. Many meters were rowed daily and lots of attention was paid to technical improvements.

On October 12th Rutgers started what was a successful fall head race season. The team traveled to Philadelphia to race in the Navy Day Regatta. Rutgers Raced a Varsity 8, 3rd Varsity 8 and two Varsity 4s. The highlight of the weekend was a good race from the Varsity 8 Finishing 11th out of 26. Result for Navy Day can be found here:
http://rowtown.org/results;jsessionid=1mrklw5fch7jmp1xgdeon2wzq/schedule.jsp?regattaName=Navy+Day+Regatta&regattaDate=2024-10-13#

The following weekend Rutgers traveled up to Boston for the Head of the Charles Regatta. The Head of the Charles is a huge regatta featuring all levels of rowing. Rutgers raced a Varsity 8 which placed 23 and a Varsity 4 which placed 35th. Results can be found here:
https://www.regattacentral.com/regatta/results2/?job_id=8995&org_id=0

All boats preformed well and progress was made though the fall from race to race. The coaches are encouraged by the energy and development the team has made already this year.

Rutgers now looks forward to the Fall Scrimmage with Bucknell on November 2nd on the Raritan.

Rutgers Oarsman got back to Campus and got right to work on the Raritan. Varsity practices are focused on lots of miles and proper rowing technique. The team is returning 4 8's of oarsmen and 5 coxswains from last years strong team. The varsity group is working very hard and hopes are high for another very successful season. The Fall racing season kicks off with Navy Day on October 13th. The next weekend is the Head of the Charles which the team will be competing in again for the first time in several years.

Tryouts were held on September 7th for the new group of novice oarsmen and coxswains. It was a great success with 80 athletes showing up to tryout, which is the most by far in many years. They were put though a few tests including using the rowing machine, the barge, sand bags and medicine balls, a tough tryout day to be sure! The group that was selected for the team have been spending their time at afternoon practices developing good habits on the rowing machines and in the barge and have started to transition into the racing shells. The group shows a lot of promise and even includes a few oarsmen who have the potential to make some of the top boats this spring. The novices Fall training will culminate with racing at the Fall Scrimmage with Bucknell on November 2nd on the Raritan.

UPSTREAM RED TEAM!

Rutgers men finished the season well at the American College Rowing Association National Championship in Oak Ridge, TN. Over 80 colleges were represented at the 3 day regatta.

A strong field of thirty one schools entered the main event, the Varsity 8. The 5th ranked Rutgers 8 finished 7th in the time trial to qualify directly to the championship semi-finals while places 9 - 31 raced in the repecharge round for a 2nd chance. Rutgers finished 3rd in their semi-final the next day to earn a spot in the Grand Final for the 2nd year in a row.

The Grand Final was very close, with Notre Dame winning, followed by Virginia, UCLA, Orange Coast, Rutgers, and Purdue in that order. All boats were well under 6 minutes with the winner finishing in 5:47, a very fast final considering the moderate cross/quartering headwind.

In the 2nd Varsity 8 event, Rutgers finished 3rd in their opening heat, 1 second from qualifying directly to the semi-final. In a tremendous race and tough draw in the repecharge round, Rutgers finished 1 second behind the winning crew, but that put them in 4th place as the top 4 crews finished within a deck. The finish relegated Rutgers to the 3rd level final, where they completely dominated the 7 boat field, opening water in the first 500 meters and going on to win by 13 seconds. Virginia won the Grand Final. Rutgers 3rd Varsity 8 rowed in their 7 boat Grand Final, finishing 5th in the race won by Bucknell.

Congratulations to the Rutgers Crew.

Rutgers raced into the Grand Finals for both the Varsity 8 and 2nd Varsity 8 events at the Dad Vail Regatta held on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ.

Reaching the Grand Final in both the Varsity 8 and 2nd Varsity 8 demonstrates exceptional progress and program depth as Rutgers was the only non-varsity/non-scholarship program strong enough to achieve this result.

The Varsity 8 finished 7th in the time trial, earning a spot in the semi-finals. The semi final was won by eventual Grand Final winner Drexel, less than a length in front of the fight for the last spot between Rutgers and perennial Grand Finalist Colgate. Only a bow ball separated the two crews as Rutgers finished in front, becoming the only non-varsity, non-scholarship crew to make the final. In the final Rutgers finished 6th, 4 seconds behind 4th place Western Ontario and 5th place St. Joseph’s.

The Rutgers 2nd Varsity finished a disappointing 9th in their time trial, but came back in the semi-finals to finish 3rd and earn a spot in the Grand Final. Temple won the Grand Final with Rutgers 6th.

The Rutgers Third Varsity entry finished 4th in their Grand Final, while the Rutgers entry in the Novice 4+ event finished 6th in the Grand Final.

Rutgers Crews had a busy weekend of racing. The Varsity, 2V, 3V and two 4s went to Philadelphia to race in the Kerr Cup. The Varsity had the best results coming in 4th with a strong performance against very strong competition from Drexel, La Salle and St. Joes. The 2V had a strong performance all the way down the course but drew a tough heat and was not able to advance to the finals in the afternoon. The 3V had a great start to their race but lost the rhythm in the later sections of the race and ended up 5th in their event. The Varsity and JV 4s which were made up of oarsmen and coxswains from the 4th 8 had only a few days of practice in the boats but still were able to put out good performances with both boats finishing 4th. The fours will be working in the smaller boats for the next few weeks in preparation for the Dad Vail.

On Sunday the 4th 8 and 5th 8 raced at home in a scrimmage against Stockton University. The workout was very competitive with the Rutgers boats pulling ahead in almost every piece. Lots of good racing from all crews!

Next up is the Dad Vail Regatta on May 10th and 11th. The Crew has a few weekends off from racing as we approach the end of the semester and Exams. Off weeks mean lots of racing pieces and hard training as the crews work to find the last bits of speed for the championship races.

Upstream Red Team

The tough spring conditions continued this weekend for the men of Rutgers Crew. The Crew traveled to Washington DC to race on the Potomac River against ACRA rivals Minnesota, University of Virginia, Bucknell, University of North Carolina, George Washington, University of Delaware and Washington State University. With strong winds out of the West the Potomac was very rough especially under the Key Bridge at 1250 into the race and in the final 300 meters of the race course. Rutgers Raced Minnesota on Friday afternoon in these very challenging and quick conditions. The Varsity had a tough start to their race and came up short despite a strong second half of the race. The 2nd Varsity was ahead with a few hundred meters to go but a very strong sprint from Minnesota caught the crew off guard and they were not able to respond quite enough, losing to the mid-west crew by 0.7 seconds. The 3rd Varsity had a similar race to the 2nd Varsity and however they were able to respond better to the late charge from Minnesota and keep their bow in front, although just barely with a margin of also 0.7 seconds! The 4th Varsity had a tremendous race and was able to make up 13 seconds on Bucknell from the last time the two crews raced.

Saturday the Crews returned to the Potomac to find it even rougher than on Friday. Racing was delayed till the afternoon in hopes the wind would shift and the water would become more rowable. Ultimately the wind did not shift and no racing was able to occur Saturday.

Full Results can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PmraTVVDL3BeDGeVRnq7cjl25Isd7RAfE02pF9UzsAQ/htmlview

With the reduced number of races the Red Teams goes into this week with a little extra energy to get ready for the last regular season racing at the Kerr Cup. Rutgers will face many of their Dad Vail competition as well as several ACRA schools.

Upstream Red Team

Rutgers Traveled up to Leonia NJ for the 24th Racing of the Collins Cup against long time rival Columbia. After a few missed days on the water this week due to flooding of the Raritan the Rutgers Boys were brimming with excitement to get onto the placid waters at Overpeck Park. The weather however did not provide those normally calm waters. All crews rowed in very challenging conditions with a head wind and gusts over 20MPH as well as increasing choppy water and waves in the second 1000 meters of the race. The well seasoned Columbia crews were able to clear the conditions more easily than the Rutgers Crews and were able to keep their bows ahead at the Finish line. Rutgers Varsity 8 put in a valiant performance in the first 1000 meters but was ultimately unable to keep up with their opponents either.

Full Results are available here: https://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=49F55B38741659206D0B6E4015CB3709&cat=1

The Rutgers Crews return to the Raritan with renewed motivation after a tough weekend. With better weather this week the crews all hope to make big improvements for this upcoming weekend in Washington DC at the George Washington Invite. The crews will be racing many of the top ACRA schools and hope to come away with many victories!

Rutgers Men Traveled to Lewisburg PA to have a double dual race with Bucknell and University of Virginia.
Michigan was also in attendance at the race but was also paired up with Bucknell and UVA so they did not directly race the Rutgers Boats.

The Varsity 8 had 2 very good races this past Saturday, a 2 sec. loss to Virginia in the morning, and a 10 second win vs Bucknell in the afternoon. Virginia beat Michigan in the afternoon by 12 seconds. All these programs are perennial grand finalists in the American College Rowing Association (ACRA) National Championships, so this was a good early test of boat speed!

The lower boats (2V 3V 4V & 5V) have many or are mostly 1st year rowers competing in their first 2k races. The Rutgers Crews had some good races and put out respectable efforts, but were not able to overcome the other, more experienced, crews. The Rutgers boats will have a few good weeks of hard training and with more experience in racing situations, it is unlikely those other crews will get the better of them again later in the season. Early speed from Rutgers freshman always spells trouble for other crews later in the season!

Click here for all official Results:
AM Racing (UVA): https://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=08812D9FC3885643B9507FF03A1E0141&cat=1
PM Racing (Bucknell): https://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=2802BE6DFC4286A1D9C49BEAD52CAAD8&cat=1

The crews now get ready for a wet week of training before traveling to Overpeck Park to race Columbia for the Collins Cup

Upstream Red Team!

The Red Team loaded the shell trailer up on a cold Friday morning after a great week of training. The destination was Allentown Pennsylvania for the second year of a scrimmage with Lehigh University. While the weather on Saturday was very wet (rainfall during the workout was over 1/2" per hour) the anticipation was high as the Rutgers rigged up and prepared to race. Lehigh has a very competitive crew this year but they were no match for the Rutgers boats.

The Varsity and 2nd Varsity were able to win all 1000 meter pieces of the scrimmage. The 3rd Varsity raced in the 2V race and was able to keep their bow in front of the Lehigh 2V on three of the four pieces.

The 4th Varsity split into 2-4 man shells to be able to compete with the lower boats of Lehigh. The Varsity 4 was able to win every piece easily over the Lehigh 4. The Novice 4 was very competitive on all pieces with the Lehigh, with the Rutgers bow being just out in front on three of the four pieces.

Overall a very successful day of racing for the Red Team!!

This week the crews eagerly prepare for the first official races of the season, which occur this Saturday at Bucknell University.

Upstream Red Team

The Rutgers Crew had a very successful Spring Break. 5 crews of oarsmen (42 oarsman and 6 coxswains) stayed around campus to train twice a day and we gained a lot of speed throughout the week. The nice weather allowed time for hard training in the mornings and focused technical workouts in the afternoons. The top two boats are really starting to develop nice chemistry and boat speed and the lower boats are finally starting to smooth out and find efficiency.

To cap off the week of training the Crew traveled to Philadelphia to have a scrimmage with Temple University. All boats had a day of very competitive racing with some very quick Temple crews. Rutgers boats were able to keep their bows in front for many of the pieces but all crews were trading pieces throughout the workout. Good early season speed was seen in all boats and the competitive workout helped light a fire for intense training as the crew moves into the scrimmage this weekend with Lehigh.

The docks are out, and the crews are now off the water and training indoors. The Rutgers men had a very productive fall, with three 8's returning from last year's team. The varsity men raced twice this fall, both times in Philadelphia. First at Navy Day Regatta and then a couple weeks later at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta.
At the Navy Day Regatta, Rutgers finished 7th and 8th of 16 in the Collegiate 4's, and 20th and 27th of 34 crews in the Collegiate 8 event.
At the Head of the Schuylkill, Rutgers finished 6th and 7th out of 40 in the Championship 4's event. In the Collegiate 8's Rutgers finished 8th, 23rd, and 34th out of 46 crews entered.
The freshmen have had a very productive fall. The coaches ran 2 shifts of practices in the afternoon to allow the over 60 athletes trying out to attend practice while working around their class schedules. All four Rutgers Freshmen 8's were very impressive in their only fall competition, a workout on the Raritan with the freshmen form Lehigh .
The men's crews spent the last 3 weeks of the fall training in "random" line-ups literally drawn from a trophy cup. The members of the fastest crew each day received 7 points members of the 2nd fastest crew get 5 points, and the 3rd get one point. After 3 weeks, the top point athletes row a workout together against the 2nd an 3rd crews (based on points) to see if the point system works, it does.
The final day on the water, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, saw 6 even mixed varsity and fresh­ men crews for several 3 minute, very spirited races.