The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
No. 2 Rowing preview: NCAA Championships
05.29.2025 | Rowing
The defending national champions hit the road to West Windsor, N.J., for the 2025 NCAA Championships on May 30-June 1 at Mercer Lake.
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The defending NCAA National Champion, No. 2 Texas Rowing, is set for the 2025 NCAA Championships on May 30-June 1 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. Texas has won three of the last four national crowns and will look to secure the program's fourth overall over the weekend.
Texas earned three top-four seeds for the 2025 NCAA Championships. The Longhorns clinched the No. 2 seed in the First Varsity Eight followed by a pair of No. 4 overall seeds in both the Second Varsity Eight and Second Four.
The Longhorn First Varsity Eight will open the 2025 NCAA Championships at 9 a.m. CT Friday in Heat 2 of the I Eight. The Horns (lane 3) will go up against Oregon State (lane 1), Indiana (lane 2), Yale (lane 4) and Penn (lane 5). The Second Varsity Eight (lane 3) will follow in Heat 4 at 10:12 a.m., squaring off with Boston U (lane 1), Syracuse (lane 2), Yale (lane 4), Dartmouth (lane 5) and Rhode Island (lane 6). The Texas First Four (lane 3) will conclude the day in Heat 4 at 11 a.m., facing Northeastern (lane 1), Harvard (lane 2), Yale (lane 4), Dartmouth (lane 5) and Rhode Island (lane 6).
The top three boats in each race will advance to Saturday's A/B semifinals with the remaining boats advancing to the C/D semifinals. On Saturday, the top three boats in the semifinals will advance to the upper final with the remaining boats headed to the lower final on Sunday. A complete schedule for this weekend can be found here.
All three days will be available to stream on NCAA.com/liveschedule. Live results and heat sheets can be accessed at Regatta Timing.
The team championship is composed of 22 teams. Nine conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining thirteen slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the championship field. Teams qualifying for the championship are required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers. For the I Eights, II Eights and Fours, all 22 boats will be seeded into four heats.
The Field
Automatic qualifiers: Rhode Island, Stanford, UCF, Washington, Northeastern, Yale, Fairfield, Boston U and Oregon State.
At-large selections: Brown, California, Dartmouth, Harvard, Indiana, Michigan, Penn, Princeton, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Format/Scoring
The NCAA Rowing champion is determined by total points with points assigned based on the finish in each race. The first-place finisher in the First Varsity Eight will receive 66 points with each subsequent finisher collecting three fewer points – 63 for second, 60 for third, etc. The Second Varsity Eight winner will earn 44 points with each successive finisher collecting two fewer points (42 points for second, 40 points for third, etc.) and the Fours winner will receive 22 points, with the runner-up earning 21 points, third receiving 20 points, etc. Ties will be broken based on the teams' result in the First Eight.
NCAA Championship History
- The Longhorns captured the program's third overall NCAA National Championship and its third in four years to cap the 2024 season. Texas won two individual boat titles with the I Eight and I Four each finishing first. 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.
- In 2023, Texas placed fourth in the team standings at the NCAA Division I National Championships at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J. The Longhorns captured the boat championship in the Four for the first time in program history.
- Texas won the second of back-to-back national championships in 2022, highlighted by a dominating victory in the Grand Final of the I Eight, also the boat's second consecutive title. UT scored 124 points, equaling the total of Stanford and winning the national championship due to their victory in the First Eight. It marked the second year in a row in which the Longhorns and Cardinal tied for the most points with UT winning with the First Eight result serving as the tiebreaker. The Varsity Four finished in third and the Second Eight placed fourth in their respective races.
- The Horns won the first national title in program history at the 2021 NCAA Championships, collecting 126 team points, equaling the total of Stanford and Washington and winning the national championship due to the Longhorns' triumph in the First Eight Grand Final. The Second Varsity and the Varsity Four each finished third in their respective races, earning crucial points for the Horns. The First Eight's victory was also the first national crown for an individual boat in program history.
- UT placed a second overall at the 2019 NCAA Championships, collecting 125 points with all three boats finishing in the top three for the first time in program history. The team finish marked Texas' third consecutive year of besting its previous record in NCAA Championship finishes. The First Eight finished second in the grand final, the Second Eight placed second overall, and the Four finished third in the grand final.
- The Longhorns finished third in the 2018 NCAA Championships, sending all three boats to the grand final for the first time. The First Eight placed third overall, the Second Eight finished fifth overall, and the Four placed fourth, totaling 115 points.
- In 2017, Texas placed fourth overall with 108 points in the final team standings at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Texas placed fourth in the First Eight grand final, first in the Second Eight petite final (seventh place overall) and fourth in the Fours grand final.
- The Longhorns placed eighth as a team at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Texas announced its presence at the 2015 NCAA Championships and finished seventh overall in the 22-team regatta with 99 points.
- The Longhorns placed fourth in the First Eight grand final, second in the Second Eight petite final and fifth in the Fours petite final at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
- Texas sent its varsity eight boats to compete at the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Championship regattas but had not been invited to compete at the Championships as a team until the Longhorns' breakthrough season in 2015. The Texas varsity eight placed sixth in its petite final (6:28.65) at the 2003 NCAA Championship but did not reach a final at the 2004 NCAA Championships.
Championship Pedigree
The Horns have recorded a top-eight results in each of the previous nine national regattas, including a top-four finish in each of the last seven national championships.
- 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
Longhorns Dominate SEC Awards
- Following Texas' 2025 SEC Championship, several Longhorns earned all-conference nods, highlighted by head coach Dave O'Neill receiving Co-SEC Coach of the Year, Marg Van der Wal hauling in SEC Rower of the Year and Imy Grey garnering SEC Freshman of the Year.
- All nine members of the Texas I Eight crew were placed on the All-SEC team: Amy Werner (Cox), Sue Holderness, Imy Grey, Marg Van der Wal, Ilva Boone, Phoebe Wise, Lucy McFarlane, Lucy Searle and Abby Dawson lauded All-SEC honors.
- O'Neill has been named a conference coach of the year for the fifth-straight year (four Big 12, one SEC) and his ninth in 11 successful seasons with the Longhorns. Under his tutelage, he guided Texas to its 10th-consecutive conference title as Texas clinched the first SEC Rowing Championship on May 11 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The victory marked UT's 14th overall conference crown as the Horns took down No. 4 Tennessee, No. 24 Oklahoma and Alabama. The Longhorns won three of six races at the conference meet and recorded a top-two finish in each race.
- Van der Wal builds upon her sensational junior campaign rowing at the six-seat, becoming the 11th Longhorn to be selected as a conference rower of the year. The Groningen, Netherlands, native was previously awarded the SEC's Scholar-Athlete of the Year for rowing on May 11 and also took home SEC Rower of the Week on April 16. Van der Wal, along with Grey, steered the Longhorn First Varsity Eight to an electric, come-from-behind victory at the conference meet to secure the 2025 SEC Championship. Texas won in 6:12.420, edging out Tennessee over the final 500 meters of the race.
- Grey is the seventh Longhorn in program history to be named either a conference freshman or newcomer of the year. Last season, current Longhorn sophomore Rhiannon Luke was tabbed the Big 12's Newcomer of the Year. The Sydney, Australia, product is one of two Texas freshmen in the I Eight crew this season, marking the first time Texas has had two freshmen in the First Eight since 2019. She rowed at the seven-seat at the SEC Championship, helping the Longhorns capture the first-ever SEC crown.
Last Time Out
- Texas won the program's 10th-consecutive conference title and its very first SEC Championship on May 11 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The victory was Texas' 14th overall conference crown as the Longhorns (83 total points) placed first out of four teams in the inaugural SEC Rowing Championship, edging out second-place Tennessee, who accumulated 78 points.
- Alabama finished third with 35 points and Oklahoma placed fourth with 34 points. The Longhorns won three of six races and netted three runner-up finishes, posting a top-two finish in every race.
Players Mentioned
