On April 4, Clemson Crew hosted its annual Clemson Invitational Regatta on Lake Hartwell, dubbed Clemson Sprints, amidst the day’s weather battle between heavy rain and clear sunshine. Clemson took over on its home course in 2000-meter races against other club programs in the greater southern area, including Tennessee, NC State and South Carolina.
Clemson achieved a clean sweep in the events they entered, earning numerous medals across both the men’s and women’s teams. Some particularly notable results featured wins by the first varsity 8 (1V8) in both the men’s and women’s collegiate categories, including an eye-opening 6:07 time marked by the men’s 1V8.
Despite Clemson lacking a historical contender in the men’s eight category in national rankings, the team is hoping to terminate the drought, with its eight having already been ranked just outside the top 10 in Row2k’s weekly American Collegiate Rowing Association poll on April 1. The progress at Clemson Sprints shows the men’s team is pushing for a potentially high placement at the ACRA Regatta, club rowing’s national championships, in May.
“Right now, I think going off the time the eight posted, that 6:07,” Clemson rower Matthew Kaslick explained, “that would win the B final (at ACRA). Even getting into that A final, that would be huge because we’ve never had a men’s eight get into that final.”
Since the men’s side of Clemson Crew hasn’t seen that kind of glory yet, Kaslick believes it makes them the perfect dark horse in club rowing, hoping that they can ultimately “pull off that underdog story.”
As for the Regatta of Clemson Sprints itself, the 23-team showing at Lake Hartwell marks the club’s rise to prominence not only within the Clemson community but also across the region.
Clemson Sprints was once a major event throughout the 2010s, but the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily prevented the club from hosting the race. Clemson Crew would hold the event again in 2023, and has since grown from a scrimmage with just five teams to an official 23-team race with major national implications.
“It’s definitely blown up,” team president AJ McClanahan asserted. “We’ve gotten back to that old nostalgic feeling.”
The club noted the success of the event’s smooth operations and organization to vice president Lillian Kriese. Yet, Kriese expressed her gratitude to the rest of the team for its cooperation, the sense of community it brought to the event and its contribution to the on-water successes.
“I couldn’t have done it all by myself,” Kriese affirmed. “Everybody was here at 5 o’clock this morning to come together and help … it was really cool to see everybody step in and do their job.”
Next up for Clemson Crew will be a trip to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Regatta, the southern regional championship for club programs, on April 18-19.
