No. 2 Stanford Looks To Defend NCAA Title at 2026 NCAA Women's Rowing ChampionshipsNo. 2 Stanford Looks To Defend NCAA Title at 2026 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships
Women's Rowing

No. 2 Stanford Looks To Defend NCAA Title at 2026 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships

No. 2 Stanford will compete as the top seed in two of three boat classes at the 2026 NCAA Championships regatta, May 29 through May 31 in Gainesville, Ga.

Notables

  • No. 2 Stanford women's rowing looks to defend its NCAA title Friday-Sunday, May 29-May 31, when action gets underway at the 2026 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships. The 22-team event will be held on Lake Lanier at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Ga., with North Georgia and the City of Gainesville serving as hosts.
  • Each day of racing will be broadcast live on NCAA.com. Live results for each race can be found here on RegattaTiming.com. 
  • Racing schedule (PT) *subject to change and does frequently, keep up with Stanford Women's Rowing on X for the most up-to-date racing times*
    • Friday: Heat Racing-- top three crews advance to AB semifinals, remainder to C-D Semifinals
      • 7:12 a.m.- Varsity Eight Heat 3- vs. No. 6 seed Virginia, No. 11 seed Brown,  No. 14 seed Columbia, No. 19 seed Northeastern and No. 22 seed Jacksonville
      • 7:36 a.m.- Second Varsity Eight Heat 1- v s. No. 8 seed Tennessee, No. 9 seed Syracuse, No. 16 seed Ohio State, and No. 17 seed UCF
      • 8:24 a.m.- Varsity Four Heat 1- vs. No. 8 seed UCF, No. 9 seed Brown, No. 16 seed Miami and No. 17 seed Columbia
    • Saturday: Semifinals Racing- top three crews from AB semifinals advance to Grand Final, remainder to advance to Petite Final; top three crews from CD semifinals advance to C Final, remainder advance to D Final. 
      • 5:12 a.m. - Varsity Eight C/D Semifinals
      • 5:24 a.m. - Varsity Eight C/D Semifinals
      • 5:36 a.m. - Varsity Eight A/B Semifinals
      • 5:48 a.m. - Varsity Eight A/B Semifinals
      • 6 a.m. - Second Varsity Eight C/D Semifinals
      • 6:12 a.m. - Second Varsity Eight C/D Semifinals
      • 6:24 a.m. - Second Varsity Eight A/B Semifinals
      • 6:36 a.m. - Second Varsity Eight A/B Semifinals
      • 6:48 a.m. - Varsity Four C/D Semifinals
      • 7 a.m. - Varsity Four C/D Semifinals
      • 7:12 a.m. - Varsity Four A/B Semifinals
      • 7:24 a.m. - Varsity Four Semifinals
    • Sunday- Grand Final (Places 1-6), Petite Final (Places 7-12), C Final (Places 13-18), D Final (Places 19-22)
      • 5:12 a.m. - Varsity Four D Final
      • 5:24 a.m. - Varsity Four C Final
      • 5:36 a.m. - Second Varsity Eight Eights D Final
      • 5:48 a.m.- Second Varsity Eight Eights C Final
      • 6 a.m.- Varsity Eight Final
      • 6:12 a.m. - Varsity Eight C Final
      • 6:24 a.m. - Varsity Four Petite Final
      • 6:36 a.m. - Varsity Four Grand Final
      • 6:48 a.m. - Second Varsity Eight Petite Final
      • 7 a.m. - Second Varsity Eight Grand Final
      • 7:12 a.m. - Varsity Eight Petite Final
      • 7:24 a.m. - Varsity Eight Grand Final
  • Scoring system
    • Place  Varsity Eight Points Scored Second Varsity Eight Points Scored Varsity Four Points Scored Place Varsity Eight Points Scored Second Varsity Eight Points Scored Varsity Four Points Scored Place Varsity Eight Points Scored Second Varsity Eight Points Scored Varsity Four Points Scored
      1 66 44 22 9 42 28 14 17 18 12 6
      2 63 42 21 10 39 26 13 18 15 10 5
      3 60 40 20 11 36 24 12 19 12 8 4
      4 57 38 19 12 33 22 11 20 9 6 3
      5 54 36 18 13 30 20 10 21 6 4 2
      6 51 34 17 14 27 18 9 22 3 2 1
      7 48 32 16 15 24 16 8        
      8 45 30 15 16 21 14 7        
       
      • Tiebreaker- Results of the Varsity Eight race
  • Projected Lineups (as of May 27, 2026):
  • LAST TIME OUT  »  No. 3 Stanford captured its fifth consecutive conference title on Saturday, sweeping the 2026 ACC Women’s Rowing Championship held on Lake Wheeler in Raleigh, N.C. The Cardinal swept all championship regatta races for the second straight year, becoming the first ACC team since Virginia (2015–16) to sweep all championship regatta races in back-to-back seasons. Stanford led the way with 132 points and was joined on the podium by No. 8 Virginia with 118 points and No. 6 California with 108 points. No. 10 Syracuse earned fourth place with 103 points, while No. 14 Miami (77), No. 23 North Carolina (75), No. 13 Duke (69), SMU (47), Notre Dame (37), Louisville (35), Clemson (35) and Boston College (29) rounded out the standings.
  • AWARDS GALORE » Following their dominant performance, Stanford’s varsity eight crew was named ACC Crew of the Year. Farwell Family Director of Women’s Rowing Derek Byrnes was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. Senior Annika Jeffery, juniors Célia Dupré and Matilda Drewett, and sophomore Ella Casano were named to the All-ACC First Team, while senior Nora Goodwillie earned All-ACC Second Team honors.
  • FAMILIAR TERRITORY » No. 1 Stanford makes its 17th consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. While competing in the national championship regatta is familiar to the Cardinal, the program enters as the top boat in two of three racing categories for the 2026 championships, the only team at the regatta that has two of its boats ranked as top seeds. 
  • YEAR IN REVIEW » Stanford has had another remarkable spring season, highlighted with a sweep of all races against current No. 1  Tennessee to open the season, wins in three of four races against current No. 3 Texas, and its third consecutive conference championship sweep (2024, Pac-12; 2025 and 2026, ACC). 
  • A BIT ABOUT BYRNES: Derek Byrnes is in his tenth season as Stanford’s Farwell Family Director of Women’s Rowing in 2025-26. Byrnes has led the Cardinal to two NCAA team titles (2023 and 2025) and eight top-six finishes in his first nine seasons at the helm of the program (2020 championship canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and has won five consecutive conference coach of the year honors (2022-24, Pac-12; 2025-26, ACC).