Washington Women Prepared To Defend Pac-12 Title
The Washington men's and women's rowing teams travel to Northern California this Sunday for the 2021 Pac-12 Championships, at Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.
The two UW teams, both ranked No. 1 in the most recent coaches' polls, are each in search of a fourth straight Pac-12 crown, having both won the title in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Last year's 2020 Pac-12 Championship Regatta was canceled.
This year, the Pac-12 Championships will air live on Pac-12 Network, starting at 9:00 a.m. PT Sunday morning. Additionally, fans can follow the live timing & results, at the regatta's website: Pac-12.com/RowChamps
Here is the schedule for the races (see above website for heat sheets with lane designations):
9:00 a.m. – Men's Varsity Four
9:15 a.m. – Women's Novice Eight
9:30 a.m. – Men's Freshman Eight
9:45 a.m. – Women's Third Varsity Eight
10:00 a.m. – Men's Third Varsity Eight
10:15 a.m. – Women's Varsity Four
10:30 a.m. – Men's Second Varsity Eight
10:45 a.m. – Women's Second Varsity Eight
11:00 a.m. – Men's Varsity Eight
11:15 a.m. – Women's Varsity Eight
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS SCORING
Crews are awarded points for where they place in each race (the men's V4+ and the women's N8+ are not scored and do not factor into the team championship scoring). The team with the most total points is crowed Pac-12 champion. The points system differs for the men and women. Here is the breakdown:
WOMEN'S POINT SYSTEM
Place V8 2V8 V4 3V8
1 21 14 7 3.5
2 18 12 6 3
3 15 10 5 2.5
4 12 8 4 2
5 9 6 3 1.5
6 6 4 2 1
7 3 2 1 0.5
MEN'S POINT SYSTEM
Place V8 2V8 F8/3V8
1 32 24 16
2 28 21 14
3 24 18 12
4 20 15 10
5 16 12 8
6 12 9 6
7 8 6 4
8 4 3 2
9 0 0 0
For the men's scoring, each program receive points based on the better of its two finishes in the freshman and third varsity eight races (e.g., if a team finishes first in the 3V8+ and third in the F8+, it gets 16 points, while the team that finishes first in the F8+ in that scenario also receives 16).
In both the men's and women's competitions, the finish in the varsity eight would be utilized as a tie-breaker. So, in the case of a tie in the number of total points, the institution with the better finish in the varsity eight race would be awarded the team championship.
The Pac-12 women's regatta features five teams ranked in the most recent (May 12) Pocock CRCA Top 20 poll, presented by USRowing: No. 1 Washington, No. 4 Stanford, No. 8 California, No. 18 Oregon State and No. 19 Washington State. UCLA and USC are both among the top three teams receiving votes just outside of the top 20.
In the men's competition, the latest IRCA Coaches' Poll – which ranks the varsity eight from each program – has the Huskies at No. 1, along with No. 2 California, No. 11 Stanford and No. 13 Oregon State.
Washington's women won the first Pac-10 Rowing Championship in 1987 and have earned 17 team titles in total (from 1994-96, the Pac-10 rowing championship was combined for men's and women's; UW won it in '95 and '96). Through 1994, the winner of the women's varsity eight race was the Pac-12 Champion, while since then, it's been determined by a points total over more than one race. The UW women have won a total of 72 conference boat titles: 16 varsity 8+; 16 second varsity 8+; 19 novice 8+; 16 varsity 4+; and five third varsity 8+.a
The conference first held a championship regatta for men in 1960. Washington has won the men's team title 39 times heading in 2021 (until 1994; the varsity eight winner was the conference champion). The Husky men have also earned at total of 137 men's boat championships: 40 varsity 8+; 36 second varsity 8+; 32 freshman 8+; 24 varsity 4+; and five third varsity 8+.
Following the Pac-12 Championships, the two teams will return to Seattle to prepare for their respective national championship regattas. The women will compete at the NCAA Championships at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla., Friday through Sunday, May 28-30. The men will travel to Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J., for the IRA Championship Regatta, Friday and Saturday, May 28-29 (IRAs will be held over two days this year).