Clemson Rowing Headed to NCAA Championships This Weekend

May 28, 2009

NCAA Rowing Championship Links: – Live Schedule Results (includes heat sheets) – Live Mobile Minisite Schedule Results (includes heat sheets) – Live Streaming Video and Audio (Saturday) – Live Streaming Video and Audio (Sunday)

Clemson, SC – The Clemson rowing team will travel to Camden, New Jersey this weekend to compete in the NCAA Rowing Championships for the second consecutive season. This marks the first time in school history that the Tigers will be competing as a team, with the Varsity 8+, Second Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ each slated to compete in the regatta. Racing gets underway on Friday morning and ends on Sunday with the crowning of a national champion.

Clemson’s Varsity 8+ will begin racing at 9:15 on Friday morning in the third of three heats. The crew will be racing against #4 Virginia, #5 Michigan, #8 Princeton, #15 Dartmouth and #16 Southern Cal. The Tigers, currently ranked #12 in the USRowing/CRCA poll, defeated Virginia in April at the ACC Championships.

Next up for the Tigers will be the Second Varsity 8+, which will begin racing at 10:00 AM. Clemson will face Michigan State, Brown, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Dartmouth in the third of three heats.

The Varsity 4+ will conclude racing for the Tigers on Friday morning at 10:30 in the second of three heats. They will be facing crews from Southern Cal, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Oregon State.

Each of the boats will follow the same format for advancing throughout the weekend. The top three boats in each heat will advance directly to Saturday’s semifinals. The remainder of the boats will compete in the repechage on Friday afternoon. The top three boats in the repechage will advance to the semifinals, while the last four will advance to Sunday’s C-Finals. The grand finals and the petite finals will also be held on Sunday. The complete schedule of events is listed below.

“We are one team and we have one goal. We are going to represent Clemson the best that we can,” said Head Coach Richard Ruggieri.

The championship is comprised of 16 teams and each team is required to field two boats of eight rowers and one boat of four rowers. The other teams competing include Brown, California, Dartmouth, Harvard, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oregon State, Princeton, Southern Cal, Stanford, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Yale.

Schedule of Events

Friday, May 29 8:45-9:15 a.m. — I Eights (3 heats) (15 min. intervals) 9:30-10 a.m. — II Eights (3 heats) (15 min. intervals) 10:15-10:45 a.m. — Fours (3 heats) (15 min. intervals) 3:10 p.m. — I Eights Repechage 3:30 p.m. — II Eights Repechage 3:50 p.m. — Fours Repechage

Saturday, May 30 9-9:15 a.m. — I Eights (semifinals) 9:30-9:45 a.m. — II Eights (semifinals) 10-10:15 a.m. — Fours (semifinals)

Sunday, May 31 9:45 a.m. — Fours Third Final (places 13-16) 10 a.m. — Fours Petite Final (places 7-12) 10:15 a.m. — Fours Grand Final (places 1-6) 10:30 a.m. — II Eights Petite Final (places 13-16) 10:45 a.m. — II Eights Petite Final (places 7-12) 11 a.m. — II Eights Grand Final (places 1-6) 11:15 a.m. — I Eights (places13-16) 11:30 a.m. — I Eights Petite Final (places 7-12) 11:45 a.m. — I Eights Grand Final (places 1-6)