13th-ranked Clemson rowers take on sport's elite at NCAA Championship

The Clemson rowing team will be looking to make inroads against a string of higher-ranked opponents when the Tigers begin competing today in the NCAA Championships at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center at Gold River, CA.

The new-format full-team championship is composed of 16 teams, with each team competing in three races – two boats of eight rowers, plus coxswain, and one boat of four rowers, plus coxswain.

This is the Tigers’ third-straight team selection and the 1st Varsity 8’s fourth-straight selection. In 2009, Clemson’s Varsity 4 captured the school’s first-ever national championship.

Clemson enters the competition ranked 13th nationally – down two places from the previous CRCA/US Rowing poll.

Clemson’s 1st Varsity 8 will compete in the second of three heats and will face second-ranked California, sixth-ranked Brown, seventh-ranked Yale and 12th-ranked Dartmouth.

The Tigers’ 2nd Varsity 8 will compete in the first of three heats and will face top-ranked Princeton, Brown, eighth-ranked Ohio State and 14th-ranked Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Wolverines in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in April.

Clemson’s Varsity 4 will compete in the first of three heats against Princeton, California, Ohio State and No. 10 Michigan State.

Preliminary heats in all three divisions will be held on Thursday, with semifinals set for Saturday. Sunday’s finals include three races in each division, in which all 16 places will be decided. The top six qualifiers will race in Grand Finals, the next six in Petite Finals, and the final four in Third-Level competition.