55th Head of the Charles

Another year in Boston, another strong performance by the Irish.

The Club 4+ opened racing up on Saturday with an incredibly strong showing, coming in unseeded and finishing 12th out of 57 boats. Their performance ensured the repeat bid for next year, as well as showing off the insane depth of the team this year.

On Sunday, the Collegiate 8+ came charging down the course trying to find the speed to break into the medals, coming up short in 7th place by only 13 seconds. A fantastic performance by them, nevertheless. Finally, the Collegiate 4+ closed the weekend out by bettering their performance from last year, finishing 6th overall, only 0.2 seconds off from breaking into the Charles medals and 2 seconds away from 2nd.

Overall, a strong showing, but next Monday after Fall Break, we're back in South Bend to find that extra bit of speed. There's still history left to write.

Row Irish.

ACRA 2019

Another year in the books, another unprecedented performance at ACRA.

Once again, we put every single one of our eights into grand finals: the 1V, 2V, 3V, and 1N. Prophesized by our fearless leader Mike Lehmann, our 3V became national champions, our fourth national championship boat in the history of the club and the first ever boat in the history of ACRA to win the event. Our 2V fought tooth and nail down the course to fight to a 2nd place finish, throwing down the best performance our 2nd varsity boat has ever produced. Our 1V left every single ounce of energy they had out on the course, only a length down from the national champions. Our 1N did the same, a fantastic performance for the group of novice. Our V2x and V1x also came in 12th and 9th overall, respectively.

In team points, we threw down a monstrous 3rd place finish, a phenomenal performance for a team with very few small boats entered.

Overall, an amazing showing from the Notre Dame oarsmen and coxswains. We're not done yet though. We won't stop until we're taking that top spot in every category.

Row Irish!

MACRA 2019

The team traveled back to Grand Rapids, MI to compete against the best of the Midwest this past weekend.

The morning was relatively unexciting, starting with the 1V4 and 2V4 racing in heats for a spot in grands. The 1V4 easily took 1st, with the 2V4 unfortunately falling to a 3rd place finish placing them in petites later that afternoon. The 2- was next, coming in 2nd securing them a spot to grands. Then came the 1N and the 1V, both easily taking their heats to fight for a spot on the podium later that afternoon.

The afternoon was a bit more thrilling. The 1V4 continued their success of the morning by fighting Minnesota to the line and taking gold by the skin of their teeth. The 2- was run into by Michigan State, unfortunately ending their race before it ever really began. The 1N raced hard but fell to Michigan by 9 seconds. The 2V, in their first and last race of the day, fell to Michigan and Mercyhurst, taking bronze. Finally, the 1V finished off the day with the same result as the 2V, falling to Michigan and Mercyhurst, but in a much tighter margin.

The team's back on campus now with a chip on our shoulders. The results weren't awful, but we've got more in us. We're hungry for ACRA. Only 23 days left.

Row Irish.

SIRA 2019

On this Easter weekend, we raced to the best showing we've had at SIRA yet.

Friday's racing was mostly uneventful, with all boats entering time trials and leaving with either a spot in the grand final or a semi-final.

Saturday is when the fun truly began. The 1N opened up the day with a 2nd place finish to Ohio State, earning them a spot in grands. The 2V quickly followed up with a similar result to Florida Tech. The 3V, racing in the 2V event, fought hard but ultimately fell to a 4th place finish, placing them in the petite final. The 1V capped off the morning with a solid 2nd place finish to Stetson, securing them a spot in grands, marking the first time the 1V has made the grand final at this regatta since 2009.

The afternoon started with our V2x taking 7th overall at the regatta. The 1N quickly followed, flipping the script on their semi with Ohio State earlier in the day and earning a silver medal, falling only to Virginia. The 3V came down the course next, fighting for a well-earned 2nd place in petites, 8th overall in the 2V category. Then, in an absolute barn-burner of a race, the 2V clawed their way to a gold medal, beating out Delaware by less than three tenths of a second. Finally, the 1V finished their historic regatta with a bronze, losing only by a second to currently-ranked 1st (in ACRA) Purdue and Florida Tech.

As with every victory, we celebrate today, but tomorrow get back to work; every single other team will be fired up after their loss, chomping at the bit for another go at us, and we have to be ready. ACRA is only a month away, and we intend on our best showing yet. Season isn't over yet. Keep sending it.

Row Irish!

Lubbers Cup 2019

We can now confirm that the Don Lubbers Cup regatta is an actual event, instead of just hearing that we’re going to be racing there and it inevitably being canceled either the day before or day of due to weather.

On Saturday, we opened up racing with the 1V and 2V racing Grand Valley’s 1V and Ohio State’s 1V. Our 1V took first, with the 2V taking a close third behind Grand Valley. The 3V and 1N raced next against Adrian’s and Grand Valley’s frosh. The 3V took a decisive victory, with the 1N in second, victorious over the other freshmen crews. Our V4 raced Grand Valley as well, leaving it all out on the course but unfortunately falling to second.

In the afternoon, the 3V once again left everyone behind, winning by nearly 18 seconds over Michigan’s and Grand Valley’s frosh. The 1N beat Michigan’s 3V, only falling to Ohio State’s frosh by 4 seconds. The V4 went out on the course with something to prove that afternoon and handily beat Michigan’s 2V4 and Ohio State. The 2V got revenge on Grand Valley’s 1V and walked through them in the afternoon, only falling 9 seconds behind Michigan’s 1V. The 1V took no prisoners and beat Ohio State, Michigan’s 2V, and Vanderbilt by nearly 20 seconds.

The true racing, however, came Sunday morning. In every boat category, we dueled Michigan head-to-head. Highlighting the day were wins in the 2V and 3V. The frosh fell to Michigan by 5 seconds; the 1V, 3 seconds.

We’ll be back for them. We’ve got speed to find. We’ll keep working. We won’t stop until they turn around at the finish line in Georgia and see us celebrating.

Row Irish.

Murphy Cup 2019

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

The team opened up the spring racing this past Saturday at the Murphy Cup, throwing down some massive watts against some highly-ranked varsity programs. At this very same regatta last year, the current ACRA national champions failed to win even the petite final. This year, our 1V took home a bronze medal. The 2V and 3V placed 4th overall.

With these results, we’ve sent a very clear message to any team, ACRA or otherwise, who wants to line up with us: Be very concerned. We’re coming for you.

10 days until Lubbers. 58 until ACRA.

Row Irish.

Bald Eagle Collegiate Invitational 2018

The team closed out the fall season by traveling down to Indianapolis and competing with the top teams in the Midwest, such as varsity program Wisconsin and our rivals Michigan. All in all, the day proved to be a good, competitive challenge that is sure to keep us motivated throughout the coming winter months as we head indoors and hit the ergs.

The highlights of the day include a win in the 3V and a bronze in the 2V. Leo Schwartzkopff ‘21 and Luke Taylor ‘20 took bronze in the men’s pair as well earlier on in the day.

Just under 200 days until ACRA! We’ve got a long way to go until we race again, but until then, trust that we’re throwing everything we have at every piece, every single day.

Row Irish!

54th Head of the Charles

This past weekend a portion of the team traveled to Boston, MA to compete in the 54th Head of the Charles. We had an entry in both the Men's Collegiate 8+ and Men's Collegiate 4+ events. Additionally, we had alumni Sam Hocking, Zachary Stackhouse, David Mercante, Michael Maggart, and Christopher Bennett compete in the Men's Club 4 event. It was great to see the alumni reliving their glory days!   

Entering the race as bow number 13, our eight worked to finish 6th out of 40 crews. We were the second-fastest club team behind the University of Michigan, and one of three clubs to make the top 12. There were 18 club crews total in this event. 

The four was bow 16 in their event but rowed to finish 8th out of 40 crews. Included in the teams they beat were both University of Michigan's fours, Boston College, and UC Santa Barbara. 

This is the best result we’ve had at the Head of the Charles in a few years. Out of the 15 athletes that traveled, 9 were sophomores and 1 was a freshman. This provides promise for even better results in the coming years. 

Alumni Row 2018

They say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Lucky for us, we don't need to, because our alumni can come back, hop in a few boats, and still row (almost) as gracefully as they did in their golden days.

That being said, Alumni Row 2018 was a huge success! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to welcome home our alums. After a gorgeous water-side mass in the morning and some breakfast that the current team definitely did not eat most of, everyone was raring to get some racing in. We put out three 8+s and a 4+, filled with alumni spanning the last twenty years, and maybe even a bit further back than that.

In the afternoon, everyone had a great time at the pre-game tailgate, where over 80 legends showed up to have a good time before we threw down on the football field against Michigan. The day was then finally topped off by our victory over Michigan, a true foreshadowing of ACRAs 2019.

The summary of the day would not be complete without mentioning Barton S. Richards '91. Richards generously donated two Pocock 4+s to our fleet last year, and we did not truly get to thank him until now. The boats are now christened and named after him and his family, and he will truly be remembered in the generations to come by all those who sit in those seats. Thank you Barton!

Row Irish!

ACRA Championships

A new era begins.

With the close of ACRAs today, there are only two words that could possibly be used to describe our performance this weekend: Unprecedented success.

We were one of only three teams at the regatta who put a boat in the grand finals of the biggest races of the weekend, the 1V, 2V, 1N, and 2N. The 2V took 6th, the 1N finished 4th, the 2N won themselves a bronze medal, and the eleventh seeded 1V took 5th in the nation.

Our 3V also raced and finished an impressive 13th overall in the 2V category. We fielded a 4x and a 1x as well who finished 10th and 12th respectively.

Overall, the team finished 5th in terms of team points.

As much as our seven seniors will be missed, the core of our team next year will remain intact, and with an incredibly deep freshman class, we will be back next year stronger, and with a vengeance.

Until we're taking every top spot, whether it be in the four big categories, small boats, or team points, we won't stop fighting.

The future burns bright.

R'Irish.