The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 2 Rowing’s van der Wal, Utesch receive SEC weekly honors
04.16.2026 | Rowing
Marg van der Wal was named SEC Rower of the Week, and Nike Utesch was selected as SEC Freshman of the Week.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 2 Texas Rowing's Marg van der Wal and Nike Utesch received weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference (SEC ), the league office announced Thursday afternoon. van der Wal was named SEC Rower of the Week, and Utesch earned SEC Freshman of the Week.
It's van der Wal's second career SEC Rower of the Week selection while it's Utesch's first career weekly accolade. van der Wal, the 2025 SEC Rower of the Year, was last named SEC Rower of the Week on April 16, 2025.
van der Wal and Utesch are the third and fourth Longhorns to collect conference weekly praise this season, joining Abby Dawson and Leila Gaston.
van der Wal and Utesch powered Texas to a dominant week in Big Ten country last week, leading Texas to a clean sweep in 10 races against No. 24 Indiana (April 9) and No. 19 Michigan (April 11). The Longhorns have won every race they've competed in this season after sweeping competition at the San Diego Crew Classic on March 28-29.
van der Wal, a senior from Groningen, Netherlands, guided the I Eight to an open-water victory after finishing in a flying 6:15.800 at #19 Michigan on April 11. Michigan's 1v8 clocked in at 6:33.100. van der Wal ignited the I Eight to a commanding win at No. 24 Indiana on April 9 in 6:35.500 while the Hoosiers finished runner-up in 6:57.900.
Utesch, a true freshman from Hamburg, Germany, helped the II Eight win in 6:32.100 against Michigan (2nd-6:47.300). Texas' II Eight time was better than Michigan's I Eight time as well (6:33.100). The Second Eight dismantled Indiana after winning in 6:51.700 while Indiana finished second in 7:18.00.
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Texas finishes the regular season at No. 1 Stanford on April 25.
