The Boston University women’s rowing team celebrating the program’s third Patriot League title, May 17, 2024. The conference title earned the Terriers an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, one of three national championships BU rowing teams will compete in this weekend. Photo by Connor Giblin, courtesy of BU Athletics

Varsity Sports

Three BU Rowing Teams Competing for National Titles This Weekend

Women’s squad vying for NCAA title, men’s rowing and women’s lightweight rowing at IRA Regatta

The strength of Boston University’s varsity rowing program will be on full display this weekend when all three crews—women’s rowing, women’s lightweight rowing, and men’s rowing—will compete for national championships. As the reigning Patriot League champions, the women’s rowing team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, which kick off Friday, May 31, at East Fork/Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio. Meanwhile, the men’s rowing and women’s lightweight rowing crews will race at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., beginning May 31 for the men and June 1 for the women’s lightweight squad.

Each of the three teams will race to accrue team points for the weekend’s standings. The women’s team at the NCAAs will launch three boats—two Varsity-8+ boats and one Varsity-4+ boat. The men’s team at the IRA will field three Varsity-8+ boats and one Varsity-4+ boat. The women’s lightweight team will race in the Varsity-8+, Varsity-4+, and the Double Sculls—a two-person boat. 

Women’s rowing

The BU women’s rowing team went undefeated in the Patriot League Championship on May 17, earning 54 points at Lake Cooper in Camden, N.J., and becoming the fifth BU team to win a conference title this year. Completing the program’s first-ever Grand Finals sweep in the Patriot League, the women’s team earned their third PL title, the first since 2022. 

Now, the women’s team is gearing up for the NCAA Championships. The Terriers are seeded No. 19 in the first Varsity-8+ and No. 18 in the second Varsity-8+ and the Varsity-4+. They are seeded alongside crosstown rival Northeastern (18, 19, 19). Patriot League Coach of the Year Malcolm Doldron says his squad is excited about showing their speed against the top teams in the country. 

“We’re looking at this as an opportunity and a step in the right direction for the program, because this is where we want to be every year,” Doldron says. “We’ve had the opportunity to race a few ranked crews during the regular season, folks that have been at the top of the NCAA rankings, and it’s just a great opportunity and experience for us. 

“Being able to represent BU at the highest level is what we strive to do every year to give back to the BU community, our alumni, our administrators, the support staff, and the folks that day in and day out allow our student athletes to be their best on the water,” he says. “We are proud to have the opportunity to wear that Boston logo and to race as hard as we can for our institution.”

The NCAA Division One women’s rowing championship will be held at East Fork/Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio, May 31 through June 2. 

Men’s rowing

Aiming to beat their 10th-place finish last year, the No. 11-ranked BU men’s rowing team is preparing to race at the 121st IRA Regatta, a championship race they have competed in since 1955. 

The Terriers most recently rowed in the 2024 Eastern Sprints, the competition qualifier for the IRA Regatta, held May 19 at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. Ethan Feldman (ENG’24) and the First Varsity-8 finished second in the Petite Final behind Dartmouth, the Second Varsity-8+ finished third, and the Varsity-4+ picked up the Grand Final victory with a time of 6:33.721. 

“We just came off of Eastern Sprints, which is our qualifier for the IRAs and contains most of the top 20 teams, so we have a pretty good sense of the speed of other programs,” Feldman notes, “and now we’re refining our speed to place ourselves as high as we can nationally. It’s a close league and if you don’t perform on the day, someone’s gonna get you.” 

After two consecutive 10th-place finishes, Feldman believes the mix of experience and youth on the roster of this year’s squad will help BU not just this weekend, but in coming seasons. 

“I think we have a lot going for us, especially in terms of that mix of experience and then a bunch of new guys,” he says. “We have a lot of young guys in the crew, which definitely feels good for future years of the program. That being said, we want results now, and I think this will be a good experience for everyone.” 

The men’s rowing team will compete in the IRA Regatta at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J., May 31 through June 2. 

Women’s lightweight rowing

The reigning IRA Regatta runners-up will also take to Lake Mercer this weekend, with hopes of earning their first-ever IRA team championship. The Terriers have finished in second place in six consecutive IRA Regattas where they fielded a full team—BU did not enter a Varsity-8 boat in the 2021 Regatta because of ongoing COVID-19 concerns. 

The Terriers have the top-ranked Varsity 4+ and Double Sculls, according to the IRA Lightweight Women’s poll, and are raring to compete this weekend after winning the program’s third Konrad Ulbrich Team Trophy at the Eastern Sprints at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester May 5. 

“We really want to win the team trophy, which is based on the team that has the most points,” says Maecy Rickman (CAS’24), who will stroke the Varsity-8+. “This season, our Varsity-4+ and our double have been really strong. I think we just need to medal in the eight and that will set us up really nicely to win the team trophy.” 

Most recently, the Terriers Varsity-4+ and Doubles defeated five-time IRA champion Stanford in Redwood City, Calif., on May 12. 

Rickman will stroke the Varsity-8+ for the Terriers this weekend, a job that places her at the stern of the boat. Her charge will be to set BU’s stroke rate, cadence, and rhythm.

“At the end of the day, we want to go out and win all these races, but I really do think that it’s the experiences that we have with each other that matters most,” Rickman says. “It’s more about the process than the result or the medal around your neck that will be memorable in the future.”

The 2024 IRA National Championship Regatta and the Women’s NCAA Championship Regatta both begin Friday, May 31, and conclude with grand finals on Sunday, June 2. All IRA races are being held on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. The NCAAs are hosted at East Fork/Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio. The BU women’s rowing team will field three boats, beginning at 9:48 am on May 31. At the IRA, the BU men’s rowing team will race four boats on Friday, and the women’s lightweight team will row three boats, beginning on Saturday.