"The strong outcomes on the women's side—both the varsity eight and novice women's eight—resulted in the Bowdoin women winning the overall points title for the national championship regatta, as well!" head coach Doug Welling said in an email.
In America's largest collegiate regatta, more than seventy clubs raced for national titles over the weekend.
In one of the highest subscribed events of the ACRA National Championships, the Bowdoin men's eight had a very strong second place finish in the D final. Bowdoin trailed University of North Carolina by 2.5 seconds and finished ahead of Illinois, Central Florida, University of Connecticut, and Washington universities.
In the grand final of the women's eight race, "Bowdoin set the pace from the jump," reported John FX Flynn for row2k, a popular rowing news site. The crew finished ahead of Vanderbilt and University of California, Santa Barbara.
Brandon Schuster ’23, coxswain of the women's eight, told row2k, "This has been a tough year for Bowdoin Rowing with the loss of a team member over the winter break [team member Charlotte Billingsley ’24], so this spring season has really been about coming together and supporting each other. Our win today really speaks to the dedication of our rowers and the trust they have built in each other."
On the win by the men's four, Schuster said, "Our men's side continued their history of strong performances in fours. Their lineup has stayed consistent since the Head of the Charles, and their hard work throughout the entire year has clearly paid off."
He added, "None of this would have been possible without the support and tireless dedication of our coaches Douglas Welling and Ry Hills." Both coaches were named ACRA All American Coaches of the Year.
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