ACRA Nationals 2025
This weekend, Illini Rowing returned to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for the American Collegiate Rowing Association Championships. ACRA is our most competitive regatta of the year and is what we base our goals around each season, so the team was very excited to be back.
After a week of final exams, rowers packed up their bags and left Champaign early morning on Thursday, May 15th. We reached Oak Ridge during the afternoon and rowers began setting up our team tent and rigging boats for the weekend. Crews began their swing row soon after, and got a good feel of the course. Afterwards, cars stocked up on groceries and headed to the hotel, ready to get a good night’s rest before their first race.
Lowering their boat into the water, the varsity men’s 4+ are ready to race.
The men’s novice four, along with both our varsity women and varsity men’s fours were the first to wake on Friday morning. They drove out to the lake where they were greeted by a substantial amount of fog covering the entire course. Due to these conditions, racing was delayed by over an hour. Once given the all clear, boats were quick to launch and made their way to the start. Due to the weather delay, it got pretty congested towards the end of the warmup, with boats from all four events having to hold in place before they could begin time trials. It can be quite stressful to deal with an overcrowded area on the water, but our crews stayed relaxed and followed instructions. We want to thank the ACRA race officials for managing such a difficult situation with composure and efficiency. Our men’s novice four was the first to start, followed by the varsity women. Both boats gave it their all in some of the most competitive categories and advanced to the DE semifinals. The men’s varsity four was up next, and placed thirteenth overall in their time trial, advancing to the ABC semifinal on Saturday.
Soon after the fours finished, heats began for the rest of our boats, starting with the women’s single. Illinois placed third in the second heat by just half of a second, and advanced onto the AB semifinal. About an hour later, our novice women’s pair went out, and secured a spot in the C final. It’s very difficult for an all novice boat to race in a varsity event, so we are incredibly proud of our ladies for getting the job done. The varsity men’s pair raced immediately after, and had a great performance, advancing to the CD semifinal and beating out the next boat in their heat by over twenty seconds. Our mixed novice-varsity men’s quad followed, and advanced to the B final after a hard-fought race and limited practice in their lineup.
Determined, the Illinois women’s Varsity 8+ sprints down the course with all they’ve got.
The Illinois women’s eights were next up, starting with the novices. Racing in the Queen of Darkness, they were in quite a competitive heat, but placed third and advanced to the grand final on Sunday. The first heat of the varsity women’s eight commenced, but officials delayed the other heats down a few hours before the Illini could race, so our ladies in the Odyssey had to head back to the dock. A quarter after six, they were back at the start, more eager than ever to start racing. It was a tough heat, but we came out with a fourth place finish, securing a spot in the AB semifinal on Saturday. With the Illini done for the day, crews went back to the hotel and watched other races on the livestream, then got an ample dinner and rested up for the second day of competition.
Filled with excitement and adrenaline, the men’s varsity 4x makes their way to the start line.
The next morning our fours were back in action. Originally supposed to race on Friday evening, the semifinals for the novice men and varsity women fours were knocked back to early on Saturday. Our novice men had a strong showing, placing fourth in their race and beating out the next boat by over a minute. Just twenty minutes later, the varsity women went out and finished second, just three seconds shy of winning the semi. Next up our varsity men’s pair was ready to get after it. The Illini stayed focused and caught an early lead, maintaining it for most of the race and then pulling away to open water for the last few hundred meters. The pair won their semi and advanced to the C final. Just ten minutes after that, our women’s single returned and had an excellent race, placing third in the AB semifinal and booking a ticket to the Grand Final on Sunday.
Later in the day, our men’s varsity four and women’s varsity eight headed out to the course for their ABC semifinals. The men battled it out the entire race against Michigan, missing third by less than half a second. With three seniors in the boat, our men qualified for the B final and set their sights on a strong final race. In the meantime, the Odyssey launched just as our men came back to the dock. Our varsity women put up a good fight and secured their spot in the B final as well.
The Illinois women’s varsity four crossing the finish line 0.167 seconds before Bowdoin.
With the semis over, it was time for the Illini to race in the finals, starting with the men’s novice four, who finished the season giving it their all. We are so proud of them and very excited to see them develop as varsity athletes. Soon after that our women’s pair went back out for their final and ended with a fifth place finish. Next was the women’s varsity four in the D final. It was by far one of the closest races of the weekend, with Illinois beating out Bowdoin for second place by one tenth of a second. Our last race of the day was our men’s quad in the B final, who made major improvements in their racing compared to their heat, also finishing in fifth place.
After racing ended on Saturday, senior coxswain Rachel Qiu was recognized at the ACRA All-Region Ceremony, as she was selected as the women’s cox for the Great Lakes region. Rachel is Illinois’s first coxswain to be named to the all-region team since 2014, and there’s no one more deserving of the title than her. We also had a large number of student-athletes make the ACRA All-Academic teams, including Dorothy Lou and Abigail Daniele on the second team and Tess Giddens-White, Sylvia Gimbel, Rachel Qiu, Lydia Schieleit, Luke Ficalora, Jade Moranetz, Ella Ghiorgas, Benjamin Wang, and Abigail Obradovic on the first team.
Flying down the course, Abby Daniele advances to the A final in the single.
At long last, it was Sunday. With four boats racing in finals, it was sure to be an exciting last day of racing. First up was our men’s pair, who had an impressive performance in the C final, placing second and beating out the next boat by over ten seconds. Soon after that, the women’s single went out and placed sixth in the grand final. Afterwards, there was a short break in racing for the Illini. Athletes watched other boats and checked out of the hotel while our novice women’s eight prepared for the grand final, where they also placed sixth. Racing in such a competitive final when no one in the boat has had prior rowing experience is a very impressive accomplishment; we are lucky to have such a dedicated and hardworking group of novices this year. Soon after their finish, the men’s varsity four went out for their race in the B final where they placed sixth. We would like to thank Minnesota crew for lending us a boat for our varsity men to race this weekend.
Athletes then began derigging boats and loading the trailer for the last time for the year. Meanwhile, the women’s varsity eight went out to race in the B final. With four seniors in the Odyssey, it was an emotional last race for everyone, but they got the job done and finished fifth, beating out the next crew by a wide thirteen seconds.
Full of encouragement and motivation for the summer, Head Coach Peter gives his last team speech of the season.
With racing over and the trailer loaded, the team sat down one last time for a talk from Coach Peter as well as ACRA Commentator and our spring break guest coach, Charley Sullivan. The team honored our senior class one last time for everything they’ve sacrificed for the team in the past four years. If one thing’s certain, it’s that they have made the team significantly better through their time with us. To read more about our senior class, check out our Instagram for their series of individual spotlights. With the talk over, the team came together for one last I-L-L chant, and we began the drive back to Champaign.
As the sun sets on another year, we will reminisce about all the lessons learned, the memories made, and the friendships forged that will last forever. We are so grateful for everyone who has put in the work for the team this year, whether that be our athletes, parents, donors, or friends. Our success is nothing without your support. This year will be remembered as a transformational year for the team. We hold strong on the belief that our underclassmen will step up and continue the legacy the seniors have built. We look forward to the future and cannot wait to be back, with a goal to make next year better than ever.