Clemson Rowing Concludes First Day at NCAA Championships

May 27, 2011

SACRAMENTO, CA – The Clemson women’s rowing team completed their first day of racing in the 2011 NCAA Championships on Friday. Three Clemson boats competed in three different heats and advanced on to Friday afternoon’s repechage. Following those races, the three Tiger crews advanced to Sunday’s C Finals.

“I am incredibly proud of our team,” said Clemson head coach Robbie Tenenbaum. “We raced as hard and as fast as we could today.”

Friday morning, Clemson’s 1st Varsity 8 competed in the second of three 1V8 heats, finishing fifth with a time of 6:39.00. The Tigers’ 2nd Varsity 8 competed in the first of three 2V8 heats, finishing fifth with a time of 7:00.05. Clemson’s Varsity 4 also competed in the first of three V4 heats, finishing fifth with at time of 7:50.02.

After completing the morning heats, the Tigers had a chance to participate in Friday afternoon’s repechage, allowing them to compete for a spot in the finals. In the 1st Varsity 8 repechage, the ACC Crew-of-the-Year fought hard, but finished seventh with a time of 7:08.27. In the 2nd Varsity 8 repechage, the Tigers again finished seventh with a time of 7:12.85, just 0.49 seconds behind Harvard. The Tigers’ Varsity 4 finished sixth in the repechage with a time of 8:11.36, five seconds ahead of Dartmouth.

Each of Clemson’s boats will now move on to Sunday’s C finals, competing for places 13-16, beginning with the 1st Varsity 8 at 9:50 am (PT). The action can be followed live on NCAA.com.

“We have a practice session tomorrow morning, then we will be ready for the C finals on Sunday,” Tenenbaum continued. “Our season has been magical and our team has a bright future. My assistants, Lincoln LaRoe and Jessica Leidecker, have been a tremendous help and we could not have come this far without them.”