THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa rowing team travels to Sarasota, Florida, to race at the Sunshine State Invitational at Nathan Benderson Park. Live results of the weekend’s competition will be available at the Iowa rowing schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Iowa begins event competition Friday at 3 p.m. (CT), leading off with two varsity four heats and three varsity eight heats to follow. Saturday’s varsity eight petite and grand final will begin at 7 a.m. (CT), followed by the second and third varsity eight finals. Varsity four finals are set to start at 8:50 am (CT).
THE COMPETITION
Iowa is competing with its first and second varsity eight crews, its first and second varsity four crews, and one novice eight crew. The top two boats, plus the next two of each heat will place in the grand final of Saturday’s schedule. Boats that do not qualify for the grand final will be placed in Saturday’s petite finals.
BIG TEN HONORS
The Hawkeyes first varsity eight was named Big Ten Boat of the Week following its performance at the Ivy League-Big Ten Double Dual in Camden, New Jersey on March 26.
The Hawkeyes’ first varsity eight crew picked up its first win of the season by pulling away from Harvard in the second half of the course and finishing in 6:34.3, more than four seconds in front of Harvard’s top boat.
Iowa’s varsity eight included Ava Parris (coxswain), Mary Wright, Molly Rygh, Kasi McWhorter, Emma Dabinett, Abby Klosterman, Lisa Murphy, Hailey Mercuri and Emma Mask.
The weekly conference honor is the 13th in program history and first since 2019.
ABOUT THE HAWKEYES
• Iowa captured two victories in its first regatta of the championship season. The Hawkeyes’ varsity eight boat came in first after finishing four seconds prior to Harvard’s boat. The second victory occurred in the second varsity four, which the Hawkeyes out-paced Harvard’s by 28.8 seconds.
• The Hawkeyes are receiving votes in the latest Pocock CRCA Poll. Harvard University, who Iowa beat twice during the Ivy League-Big Ten Dual, is also receiving votes.
• Jeff Garbutt is in his first year as Iowa’s head coach for Iowa. Garbutt was an assistant for the Hawkeyes from 2013-2020.
• Iowa’s new coaching staff includes associate head coach Megan Fitzpatrick, and assistant coaches Katie Thurstin and Lowell McNicholas.
FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
Fans can follow the Iowa rowing program on social media on Instagram (@iowa_rowing) with live updates on Twitter (@iowarowing) and via Facebook (iowawomensrowing).
“I am looking for progress. We want to make sure that everybody, with the short week of practice we had this week, we want to see some progress and get more strokes in. It is warmer weather so we’ll be able to get a practice row in before we race. I am just looking for improvement in all five boat classes.”
Head Coach Jeff Garbutt
