No. 2 Texas Rowing Advances All Three Boats to Prestigious A/B Semifinals at 2025 NCAA Championships in Dominant Performance

The University of Texas rowing team, ranked No. 2 in the nation heading into the 2025 NCAA Rowing Championships, delivered a commanding performance on Friday to advance all three of its boats to the A/B semifinals. With their eyes fixed firmly on a national title, the Longhorns showcased both power and precision across the water, earning decisive finishes in their respective heats and repechages to solidify their spot among the top contenders in the nation.

The championship regatta, being held at the East Fork Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio, has drawn the country’s elite collegiate rowing programs together for a weekend of intense competition. For Texas, a perennial powerhouse under head coach Dave O’Neill, the first day of racing was about making a statement—and the Longhorns did just that.

Texas sent three boats to the championships: the First Eight (I Eight), the Second Eight (II Eight), and the Four. Each of them faced the pressure of championship racing, but all delivered when it mattered most. The results were a testament to the team’s deep bench of athleticism, training, and mental fortitude, elements that have defined the Longhorns’ rise to national prominence over the past decade.

The First Eight started the day with a performance that immediately reminded everyone why Texas is considered one of the top contenders. Lining up against crews from some of the country’s strongest rowing programs, Texas came off the starting blocks with sharp, aggressive strokes and quickly established their presence in the race. In a sport where a fast start often leads to control, Texas set the tone early. Their rhythm and length in the water were evident, and their execution over the middle 1000 meters—a portion of the race that often separates great crews from good ones—was nearly flawless.

Although they didn’t take first in their heat and were edged by top-ranked Princeton, Texas’s First Eight crossed the line in second, which forced them into the repechage later in the day. There, they bounced back with determination, putting together one of the most complete races of the day to win the repechage and earn a coveted place in the A/B semifinals.

Meanwhile, the Second Eight, a boat often seen as a bellwether of a program’s depth, left no doubts. They won their heat outright with a wire-to-wire victory that underscored just how strong Texas’s development pipeline has become. Their race was one of the most dominant of the morning session, with the Longhorns finishing multiple seconds ahead of the field. The control in their rowing was obvious, as was the cohesion and trust within the boat. This level of synchronization only comes from weeks and months of detailed training and shared purpose, and Texas made it look effortless.

The Fours, often the most tactical and unpredictable of the three events, added their own success story to the Longhorns’ day. Despite drawing a competitive heat that included Washington and Virginia, Texas held its own. After finishing third in the heat, the crew regrouped for the repechage—a do-or-die race to stay alive in the championship hunt. In the repechage, the Longhorns demonstrated calm under pressure and excellent boat speed in the second half of the race to power through the field and clinch a spot in the semifinals. It was a performance that captured the grit and resilience this team prides itself on.

Advancing all three boats to the A/B semifinals is more than just a statistical achievement; it is a milestone that puts Texas in prime position to contend for the NCAA team title. Under NCAA scoring rules, teams accumulate points based on their boats’ final placements across the three categories. Having all three boats still in contention for top-six finishes means Texas is firmly in the mix for a team podium, if not the outright national championship.

Coach O’Neill, who has built Texas Rowing into a national powerhouse since taking the reins in 2014, was visibly proud of his athletes. “Our rowers showed a lot of heart today,” he said after racing concluded. “Every boat found a way to respond to adversity and rise to the moment. That’s what championship rowing is all about. We’ve put ourselves in a good position, but there’s a lot more racing to come.”

Indeed, the A/B semifinals will bring new challenges. Programs like Princeton, Stanford, Washington, and Brown have also advanced strong boats and will be fierce competitors in the next round. But Texas’s performances on Friday suggest they are more than capable of holding their own against the very best.

The momentum from the First Eight’s repechage win is especially encouraging. In rowing, confidence and rhythm carry enormous weight from one race to the next, and Texas appears to be peaking at the right time. The fact that their top boat responded so well after being pushed to a second race is a sign of their toughness and conditioning—two pillars of the Longhorns’ identity.

What sets this Texas team apart is not just its athletic ability, but also its culture. Across all three boats, there’s a clear sense of unity and shared mission. Seniors and underclassmen alike have bought into the vision set forth by the coaching staff. The internal competition throughout the season has sharpened every athlete’s focus, and the training has clearly paid dividends. From early morning erg sessions to countless hours on the water, this team has been forged through commitment.

It’s also worth noting the balance Texas has achieved across its boats. Some programs rely heavily on their First Eight to carry the points, while others show depth but lack top-end speed. Texas has managed to strike both, a testament to their recruiting and development strategies. Each boat seems poised to reach at least the A Final, which would put them in the mix for a team championship on Sunday.

The atmosphere at the championships was electric, with spectators from across the country lining the shores to support their teams. The Texas contingent, always loud and passionate, had plenty to cheer about. From burnt orange signs to cheers echoing across the course, it was a reminder of how much rowing has grown at Texas and how much pride the Longhorn faithful take in this program.

Looking ahead, Saturday’s A/B semifinals will be pivotal. The top three finishers in each A/B semifinal race will advance to the A Final, where national championships and crucial team points are at stake. The remaining crews will compete in the B Final, still vying for valuable placement but out of contention for medals.

For Texas, the goal is clear: qualify all three boats for the A Finals. Doing so would position them perfectly for a final-day push and give them a legitimate shot at capturing another NCAA team title. The last time Texas won the team title was in 2022, and the hunger to reclaim that spot atop the rowing world is palpable.

As the team rests and refocuses for Saturday, the coaching staff will be fine-tuning race strategies, analyzing splits, and reinforcing the technical details that make the difference at the championship level. The athletes, meanwhile, will go through their physical recovery protocols, review race footage, and mentally prepare for the intensity of semifinal racing.

Whatever happens next, one thing is already clear: Texas has once again proven that it belongs on the national stage. With all three boats still in contention and racing at a high level, the Longhorns are poised to make a serious run at the title. The journey to NCAA gold is far from over, but on Friday, the University of Texas took a significant step forward—and reminded the rowing world that the burnt orange is not just a color, but a force.