2025 SPRING RACE SEASON RECAP
Feb 28—Mar 2: Redwood Shores Invitational (Men), Redwood Shores
M1V8 and M2V8 win dual races against Drexel, Oregon St., Santa Clara, USD (MV8), and UCSD (MJV8) in early spring racing at Redwood Shores.
Mar 29—30: Tennessee/Stanford Dual (Women), Oak Ridge, TN
Women sweep Tennessee on Melton Hill Lake outside Knoxville with victories in the W1V8, W2V8, W1V4, and W2V4.
Apr 5: Cal/Stanford Invite (Men), Redwood Shores
Men show strength in dual races vs. Washington and Wisconsin on a pristine day at Redwood Shores. M1V8 and M2V8 sweep Wisconsin, each with 5-second margins over the Badgers, while the M1V8 comes within a length of the #1 ranked Huskies. Despite also coming up short vs. the Huskies, the M2V8 sets fastest-known Stanford M2V8 time at Redwood Shores.
Apr 12: Princeton Class of 2015 Cup: Dual vs. Princeton (Lights), Princeton, NJ
Lights get a good first look at the defending national champs in challenging conditions marked by a stiff headwind and choppy water on Lake Carnegie. Team comes up short in races against the top-ranked Tigers in the LW1V8, LW1V4, and LW1V2x, but with strengthened resolve to close the gap by Eastern Sprints and IRAs.
Apr 12—13: Redwood Shores Challenge (Women, Men), Redwood Shores
Women sweep ACC rivals Syracuse on Saturday and Virginia on Sunday with solid margins against both schools in the W1V8, W2V8, and W1V4, and in the W2V4 vs. Syracuse. W3V8 flexes its muscle with an 8-second victory Saturday vs. Cal, in what is a foreshadowing of Big Row weeks later.
Men continue to show they would be in the mix at IRAs with the M1V8 scoring victories against third-ranked Brown on Saturday morning and ninth-ranked Syracuse on Sunday, with a narrow defeat to seventh-ranked Yale in between on Saturday afternoon. The M2V8 bounced back from losses on Saturday to Brown and Yale, pulling out a narrow victory Sunday vs. Syracuse.
Apr 19: Wisconsin “Dual” (Lights), Redwood Shores
V8 scores a decisive victory at Redwood Shores in ideal conditions, while Wisconsin comes up on the winning end in the V4+ and V2x.
Apr 25—26: Longhorn Invitational (Women), Austin, TX
Wow! Stanford Women establish themselves as the team to beat at NCAAs this year after completing a near sweep of the defending champs, Texas, at the Longhorn Invitational in Austin, winning by open water in the 1V8, 2V8, 3V8, and 1V4+.
Apr 27: Stanford vs. BU (Lights), Redwood Shores
The Lights put in a determined effort against one of the pre-season favorites, Boston University, coming up short in races in the V8, V4+ and V2x.
May 3: BIG ROW (Men, Women), Redwood Shores
Packed house at Redwood Shores sees the Women follow-up their dominant performance in Austin with a sweep of the Golden Bears in choppy waters and strong headwinds.
The Men, short-handed while managing a number of minor injuries, race valiantly, but come up a short against 2nd-ranked CAL.
May 4: Women’s Sprints (Lights), Worcester, MA
With calm waters finally prevailing “back East” on Lake Quinsigamond, the Light’s V8 narrow the gaps vs. BU from the week previously at Redwood Shores and vs. Princeton from earlier in the Spring, finishing less than 2 seconds off the podium, raising hopes for a strong finish at IRAs.
May 17—18: ACCs (Women), Clemson, SC
Racing on Lake Hartwell, the Women take championship honors in their first ACC season, prevailing with Open water in five events — 1V8, 2V8, 3V8, 1V4, and 2V4 — while setting ACC Championship records in four of them.
Teams to keep an eye on for the future include former ACC Champion Virginia, which finished second to the Cardinal in all five events, and Syracuse and Duke, who finished third and fourth, respectively.
May 18—19: MPSFs (Men), Sacramento, CA
Strong showing by the Men at the inaugural Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship on Lake Natoma in Sacramento. Harkening back to the days of the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships (PCRCs) and Western Sprints, the MPSFs featured crews outside the old Pac-12, including Gonzaga, Santa Clara, and UCSD.
Men finish a strong third in all three events — 1V8, 2V8, and 1V4 — with the 1V8 and 2V8 closing the gap to top finishers Cal and UW relative to last year’s Pac-12 Championships and races earlier this season. 1V4 races for the first time this season, showing the growth of the team’s depth now that we’ve gotten to the other side of the Covid-19 recruiting blip.
May 30—June 1: IRAs (Lights, Men), Collingswood, NJ
Men capped off a strong season with top 10 finishes in the 1V8 (9th) and 2V8 (8th), and 16th in the 1V4 in choppy waters on Cooper River Lake. All three boats showed marked improvement over 2024 (12th, 13th, and 19th in the 1V8, 2V8, and 1V4, respectively), with the 1V8’s finals time of 5:27 believed to be a school record. Of note, the 1V8 BEAT CAL in the semifinal, after a calamitous crab struck the Bears in the last 500.
Lights finish 6th in the Commissioner's Cup standings.
May 30—June 1: NCAAs (Women), West Windsor, NJ
NCAA CHAMPIONS for a third time (2009, 2023, 2025), the Women close out a dominant season on Lake Mercer with wins in the 2V8 and 1V4 and second place in the 1V8 to finish with 129 points, 8 points ahead of second place Yale.
