Virginia Wins Five Heats, Sets Five Records on First Day of ACC Championships

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May 15, 2015

Clemson, S.C. – The No. 3 Virginia rowing team won all five of its heats on the first day of the ACC Championships Friday evening on Lake Hartwell at Clemson.

The Cavaliers shattered the First Varsity Eight ACC Championship mark by 12 seconds, recording a time of 6:10.0, bettering the previous ACC Championship mark of 6:22.0 set by Virginia on Lake Hartwell in 2008.

UVa also set ACC Rowing Championship records in the Second Varsity Eight, the First Varsity Four, Third Varsity Eight and the Second Varsity Four races.

Virginia and Syracuse both broke the old ACC Championship mark in the Second Varsity Eight of 6:28.1 set by UVa in 2007. Virginia recorded a time of 6:21.8 to set the new mark.

In the First Varsity Four, Virginia recorded a time of 7:01.0 to break its previous ACC Championship record of 7:08.1 set in 2010.

In the Second Varsity Four, Virginia recorded a time of 7:05.5 in the event, which had not been held in the Championship since 2001, when the Cavaliers had a time of 7:36.5.

Finally, in only the second year of the Third Varsity Eight race in the Championship, Virginia recorded a time of 6:25.3, bettering their winning time of 2014 of 6:38.2. Louisville, which captured heat two, also bettered the old mark with a 6:37.2 clocking.

The Heats were held in excellent weather on a sunny afternoon, with temperatures in the high 70’s, with a slight quartering tailwind of one to five mph, gusting to seven miles per hour on occasion at the start of the competition, but growing progressively calmer throughout the event.

“It was definitely a strong wind out there and they did what they needed to do to win those races today,” said Virginia head coach Kevin Sauer. “Tomorrow will be a new day, so we’ll see what we can do. We’re going to have to do better across the board to do well tomorrow.”

UVa will be the top seed in all five grand finals. Virginia has won the last five conference titles and 14 of the 15 ACC regattas.

The ACC rowing Championships continue Saturday morning beginning at 8:05 a.m. with the Petite Final of the Third Varsity Eight race. The Championship will be video streamed live by the ESPN3.