The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
San Diego Crew Classic
No. 1 Rowing preview: San Diego Crew Classic
03.28.2025 | Rowing
The defending NCAA National Champions open their season on March 29-30 at the historic San Diego Crew Classic.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 1 Texas Rowing treks west to open its season at the historic San Diego Crew Classic on March 29-30. Racing will take place over a 2,000-meter course on Fiesta Bay-Crown Point Shores of Mission Bay Park in San Diego. The regatta is widely regarded as America's premier spring regatta, featuring junior, collegiate, adaptive and masters racing.
Texas' First Eight is among 11 boats invited to race for the prestigious Collegiate Varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup. The field includes No. 5 Washington, No. 8 California, No. 20 Notre Dame, No. 23 Southern California, No. 24 Washington State, UCLA, San Diego, UC-San Diego, Sacramento State and Santa Clara.
The Second Eight will compete for the Women's Collegiate 2V Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy and the Four will race for the Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup. The Longhorns will also race a Third Eight boat in the Women's Open 8+ Carley Copley Cup.
"We're certainly excited to start formal racing in San Diego this weekend," said Texas head coach Dave O'Neill. "The team has been training hard, and this will be a terrific test in many ways. No doubt the racing will be tight, so we need to be ready."
"This year's team is relatively young. Only two athletes return from last year's First Eight, and each crew will have a number of freshmen. However, I've been really impressed with the attitude and effort throughout the year, and I think we can be competitive with the top teams in the country."
Last season, the Longhorns won three grand finals and finished runner-up in a fourth at the San Diego Crew Classic. Texas recorded a convincing victory in the Jessop-Whittier Cup Invitational by the I Eight with a time of 6:23.272, winning by open water over California, who crossed the line in 6:30.093, with Washington placing third in 6:38.272. The Texas Four followed with a third-straight title in the Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup, securing another open-water victory for the Longhorns with a time of 7:28.046. The Horns also won the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy after the II Eight crossed the line in 6:46.080. UT notched a runner-up finish in the Carley Copley Cup in the Open Eight, registering a time of 7:03.117.
When: March 29-30
Where: Fiesta Bay-Crown Point Shores of Mission Bay Park, San Diego, Calif.
Results | Watch | Regatta Information | Rowing Factbook
Race Schedule
Saturday, March 29
I Eight: Women's Collegiate Varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup Invitational
- 11:52 a.m. CT/9:52 a.m. PT – Heat 1 of 2
II Eight: Women's Collegiate 2V Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy
- 1:04 p.m. CT/11:04 a.m. PT – Heat 1 of 2
Four: Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup
- 12:48 p.m. CT/10:48 a.m. PT – Heat 1 of 2
III Eight: Women's Open Carley Copley Cup
- 2:16 p.m. CT/12:16 p.m. PT – Heat 1 of 1
Sunday, March 30
I Eight: Women's Collegiate Varsity Jessop-Whittier Cup Invitational
- Final – 11:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. PT
II Eight: Women's Collegiate 2V Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy
- Final – 12:22 p.m. CT/10:22 a.m. PT
Four: Women's Collegiate Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup
- Final – 12:14 p.m. CT/10:14 a.m. PT
III Eight: Women's Open Carley Copley Cup
- Final – 1:26 p.m. CT/11:26 a.m. PT
A Look at the Longhorns
The defending NCAA National Champion Texas Longhorns, who have also won nine-straight conference titles, return 2024 CRCA First-Team All-American Marg Van der Wal along with First-Team All-Big 12 honoree Abby Dawson, who guided Texas' I Eight to an NCAA victory last season. Four rowers from UT's NCAA Championship Four crew return in Nadja Yaroschuk, Phoebe Robinson, Katherine Nordheim and Lucy Searle. Coxswain Amy Werner, who helped the Longhorn II Eight to a National Runner-Up finish, returns along with Sue Holderness, Paula Becher, Rhiannon Luke, Allie Alton, Phoebe Wise and Taryn Kooyers.
Athletes to Watch
Texas' Abby Dawson and Marg Van der Wal landed on the CRCA's 2025 Athletes to Watch list on Feb. 26. Van der Wal, a junior from Groningen, Netherlands, and Dawson, a junior from London, helped UT's First Eight capture a thrilling victory (6:09.920) in the Grand Finals to seal the 2024 NCAA title. The duo also aided the First Varsity 8+'s 2024 Big 12 Championship, winning in 6:08.714. Van der Wal and Dawson have played integral roles in Texas' I Eight going undefeated in three of the last four seasons. In addition, last season's First Eight earned two Big 12 Boat of the Week honors. During the Longhorn Invite on April 27, 2024, UT's First Eight won with a time of 6:00.969 to defeat then top-ranked Stanford, No. 12 Virginia and No. 14 Ohio State. Texas' First Eight also pieced together a dominant victory at No. 9 Michigan on April 13, 2024, after crossing the finish line at 6:08.10. Texas' I Eight won its first Big 12 Boat of the Week honor following the 2024 San Diego Crew Classic, finishing first in heats (6:27.626) and the final (6:23.272) to win the Jessop-Whittier Cup Invitational.
Texas at the Top
The Longhorns open the 2025 campaign ranked No. 1 in both the Pocock CRCA and Junior Rowing News preseason polls. It marks the eighth-consecutive year Texas has been ranked inside the top-four in the initial poll and 10th-straight time UT has garnered a top-eight preseason ranking.
Pocock CRCA Coaches Poll
- TEXAS
- Stanford
- Tennessee
- Princeton
- Washington
- Yale
- Brown
- California
- Rutgers
- Michigan
- Syracuse
- Penn
- Virginia
- Duke
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Oregon State
- Alabama
- North Carolina
- Notre Dame
- Gonzaga
- Harvard
- USC
- Washington State
- UCF
Championship Pedigree
Texas has registered a top-eight result in each of the last nine NCAA Championship Regatta, including a top-four finish in each of the last seven national regattas. The Horns have won three of the last four NCAA crowns:
2024 – National Champion (Boat National Title: I Eight, Four)
2023 – 4th (Boat National Title: Four)
2022 – National Champion (Boat National Title: I Eight)
2021 – National Champion (Boat National Title: I Eight)
2020 – No regatta
2019 – 2nd
2018 – 3rd
2017 – 4th
2016 – 8th
2015 – 7th
Defending Conference Champions
2025 will be Texas' first season as a Southeastern Conference member. The Longhorns enter the season as a nine-time defending conference champion after exiting the Big 12 with nine-straight conference titles. In all, Texas won 13 of the 15 Big 12 Conference Championships held, placing runner-up in 2013 and fourth in 2014.
Players Mentioned
