With hopes of redefining its postseason, the No. 9 Michigan rowing team fine-tuned its rhythm and looked to put its disappointing Big Ten Championships performance behind it. While the Wolverines set themselves up for success on Day One of the NCAA Championships, their stamina ultimately dropped off and the team finished 11th place overall.
While Michigan’s refined intentions led to early success, as the weekend continued and competition increased, the Wolverines struggled to sustain their initial momentum. Even so, the unit performed cleanly and illustrated the chemistry that the boats had curated throughout the season.
“We really were struggling early in the season, and it was really impressive how much the team improved,” Michigan coach Mark Rothstein said on Sunday. “We had a really strong May and I was hoping we would finish a little stronger at NCAA, but I was just really impressed with our team’s resiliency.”
Entering the regatta on Day One, the first varsity eight race set the tone for the competition. No. 1 Stanford quickly established itself in the lead while No. 8 Brown hesitated. At the start, things looked positive for the Wolverines in the battle for runner-up. But a momentum shift worked in the Bears’ favor and pushed them comfortably into a second-place finish. Michigan barely held onto third and progressed its boat to the semifinals.
For the second varsity eight race, the Wolverines mirrored their prior performance with another third-place finish. To round out Day One with its final race, Michigan’s first varsity four pulled through and secured an impressive second-place result.
But on Day Two, the Wolverines began to slip.
The 1V8 race threw Michigan up against the nation’s best and it struggled to stand out. From the beginning, it was clear the Wolverines were fighting for a fourth-place finish as the top three boats bolted ahead. Soon enough, the Day Three grand finals became unattainable as Michigan fell to last place, leaving it with a spot in the petite finals instead.
Later in the day, things looked hopeful in the initial moments of the 2V8 boat’s race. And, although tight competition kicked the Wolverines to fifth place, the boat’s chemistry was inspiring given its early-season struggles.
“We struggled at Big Tens,” senior Abby Hathaway said. “We weren’t finding the most perfect rhythm in our lineup so we spent a lot of time over the two weeks just pushing things up, trying to find our boat’s rhythm and personality together.”
Competing in the 2V8 lineup, Hathaway built up her boat’s rapport as she compiled her years of hard work and experience into her final race with Michigan. While the 2V8 boat didn’t cross the finish line in an optimal position, its display of power and technique provided the Wolverines encouragement.
While the 1V4 race resulted in another sixth-place finish for Michigan, officially eliminating the team from the Day Three grand finals, the Wolverines held out hope for their 2V8 lineup.
The 1V4 race kicked off Day Three where Michigan narrowly took fourth place. While the next race, the 2V8, presented another battle with Brown, the team displayed another hard-fought race that ended without the intended result. As both teams simultaneously crept up behind the leader, No. 4 Tennessee, attention seemed to fall away from the fight for first. The Bears began pushing forward little-by-little but remained neck-and-neck with Michigan until Brown ultimately clinched second place in the final moments.
“I thought they had a great regatta and showed a lot of tremendous improvements from two weeks ago,” Rothstein said. “We’re not extremely happy with our finish, but that boat did stand out in a very positive way.”
With a third-place finish, the 2V8 boat earned the Wolverines their best result of Day Three. And although the final rankings were disappointing, the weekend’s competitors proved to be tough and experienced.
Michigan’s NCAA performance was not ideal. But in a roundabout path to the finish line, the Wolverines’ team stamina and boat chemistry highlighted a clear improvement to be proud of.
