WWU Men's Crew

 

Men’s Crew at Western Washington University has been a distinguished and successful collegiate rowing program in the northwest for over forty years. Western men row from September to May in preparation for the spring sprint racing season. Each year we aim to field Novice, JV and Varsity 8’s and 4’s in a numer of regattas, sending the most competitive crew to the championship regattas. We compete in the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC), Wesern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA), and American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA).

The team is always accepting new recruits year round, no experience necessary!

NCRC is comprised of seven NCAA Division II and Division III member Schools. These include Humboldt State University, Lewis & Clark College, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle Pacific University, University of Puget Sound, Western Washington University, and Willamette University. The Conference Championship is held in late April at Lake Stevens and is the precursor to advancing to the WIRA Championships.

WIRA is a western regional organization that includes approximately 28 rowing programs at all division levels representing colleges and universities in four western states. WIRA includes almost all non Pac-10 institutions with rowing programs in the west. The WIRA Championships are in late April or early May and are held at Lake Natoma near Sacramento.

 ACRA is the newly formed organization for all collegiate club rowing teams in the country.  It was created after the 2008 decision to exclude club teams from competing at the IRA (Intercollegiate Rowing Association) national championship regatta.  The conference has nearly 200 member schools, which includes such powerhouse crews as Michigan, Purdue, Penn State, UCLA, and UC Davis.  The Vikings plan to take as many competitive boats as possible to this national championship, which takes place at the end of May.

Fall Racing Season: Rowing competition in fall is focused on head racing. These races are around 5000 meters and are slower, more endurance based courses.   A head race can be compared to running a mile in track, where the 2000 meter sprint racing would be more like running a 400m sprint.  Head races involve turns and can be more of a scenic row, while mostly taking place in the rough water fall tends to bring.  Given that the team will only have a monthor so of practice before racing, head racing is a great way to access speed and provide an early season training goal.

Spring Racing Season: This is the true competitive season in college rowing. Standard race format is 2000 meters. We will compete in a number of regattas around the Pacific Northwest, culminating in the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference (NCRC) Championship. Regional west coast racing ends with the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships, which are held at Lake Natoma in Sacremento CA.  If the team feels it has boats competitive enough to compete at the national level, boats will be sent to the ACRA National Championship Regatta.