Rowing teams earns Big Ten Boat of the Week again

For the first time in school history, the IU rowing team is nationally ranked.

The Hoosiers received 52 votes in the CRCA/US Rowing Coaches Poll this week, enough to register the Hoosiers at No. 20.

The team received only two votes the week before.

“One of the goals this team had set at the beginning of the year was to get into the top 20,” IU Coach Steve Peterson said. “Honestly, that has been a goal of this team for the past few years, and they have finally done it.

“It is a credit to all the work and perseverance of everyone on the team. They knew that if they kept working hard and improving in each and every workout, that at some point, they could reach all their goals, no matter how lofty.”

The Hoosiers defeated Notre Dame, now ranked No. 17, by more than two seconds in the 1st Varsity 8 race Sunday at the Indiana Invitational. The team also collected a series of second-place finishes across the board.

That performance earned the First Varsity 8 the Big Ten Boat of the Week honors for the second consecutive week.

Five other Big Ten Schools rank in the top 20 nationally, including Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Minnesota.

“I believe it is an advantage to be racing on a regular basis with nationally ranked crews,” Peterson said. “So, in my opinion, the fact that six of the seven Big Ten programs are in the top 20 only helps us.”

The Hoosiers race against Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota on April 7 at Lake Lemon in the Big Ten Double Dual race.

Peterson knows this team has to keep pushing, especially in the Big Ten Double Dual race, to hang on to its new position.

“We can quickly fall out of it if they ease off at all,” Peterson said. “There are a lot of good programs that are right behind us in the polls, and all it takes is a few bad races for them to jump over us.”