Updates
A select group of the NDMR squad kicked off our fall season with the “Cup of Joe” small boats regatta this past Sunday. Congratulations to team captain Aidan Walsh ‘27 for taking gold in the 1x and to Jack Patterson ‘28 and Cole Schoenborn ‘27 for their win in the 2-. Only two weeks until the first full-team race of the season, Head of the Rock.
Two Days. Generations of Notre Dame Rowers decend upon South Bend. Alumni gathered from every corner of the country to welcome our new coaching staff, connect with current student-athletes, alumni, and celebrate an extraordinary period of growth for the program. The evening also served as the official launch for Pulling Together: A History of Notre Dame Rowing, The Early Years Through the ’70s, Volume One, authored by one of the club’s founding coaches, Michael F. Carroll.
Over the weekend, the Irish traveled to Grand Rapids, MI for our first race of the season. The team matched up against many old friends in the 1V8+, 2V8+, 3V8+, and NV4+, the team’s largest showing in years.
All boats advanced their grand final.
The 1V crossed the line 9 seconds up on the field to secure the gold for the second year in a row. The 2V finished second in their category. The 3V placed 4th overall and the novice 4+ finished in third overall.
Plenty of medals and shirts left to be exchanged. Onto SIRA…
2023 ACRA RECAP
It was a great weekend for Notre Dame as we picked up our first ACRA V8 medal since 2011!
The crew of: Hanna, Tunney, Bektas, Kiely, Dauenhauer, Benson, Cronin, Jackson and Kiley opened the National Championship Regatta with the fastest time trial on Friday. This speed was backed up with aggressive side by side racing in the next rounds. In the final, the Irish were able to push away from Michigan and Virginia to secure third place in the country!
The 2V had been building speed throughout the season and they capped it off the a win in their final on Sunday. The crew of: Victor, Miano, Bourdon, Gallagher, Bellizia, Kirsch, Lee, Fredrickson and Schoen were able to make a decisive move to push away from the field and secure a Petite Final victory
The V4 of: Njau, Nichols, Jude, Dolan and Wang fought hard and gained value experience throughout the regatta
Onto next year! Go Irish!
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
